NEW DELHI: Washington Sundar’s career-best performance of 7/59 helped India beat New Zealand by 259 on the first day of the second Test in Pune. However, the hosts lost captain Rohit Sharma early as they were held to a draw on Thursday.
India ended the day on 16 for one in 11 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal (6 not out) and Shubman Gill (10 not out) at the crease. They trail New Zealand by 243 runs in the first innings.
How it happened| Scorecard
Tim Southee dismissed Rohit Sharma for a nine-ball duck, forcing India to take a cautious approach. This caution was influenced by the poor first innings in the Bengaluru Test that remained in their memory.
Rohit Sharma faced his third cleanup attempt of the series and his second by Southee. While trying to defend, the ball moved away from his bat and hit the off-stump.
Southee thus became the first fast bowler to take a wicket in this Test. Up to this point, the Indian spin duo of Sundar and R. Ashwin (3/64) had dominated.

Washington Sundar, playing his first Test for India since March 2021, took charge after Ashwin took the first three wickets. Ashwin overtook Nathan Lyon on the list of highest wicket-takers.
Ashwin started by trapping New Zealand captain Tom Latham (15) in front of the wickets and leaving Will Young (18) behind in the first session. Towards the end of the second session, Sundar came into the spotlight.
Sundar initially bowled economically as the New Zealand batters looked to consolidate, but his persistence paid off.

He turned the momentum in India’s favor with two late wickets in the second session, including the in-form Rachin Ravindra. That left New Zealand at 201/5.
Ravindra’s dismissal before the tea break was crucial. New Zealand struggled to recover and failed without much resistance in the final session.
Rachin Ravindra, who seemed to be facing another big blow, was stopped by Sundar’s brilliance.
Of his seven wickets, Sundar bowled five cleanly, caught one in front of him and one was caught by Ashwin.
Players who went clean included Ravindra, Tom Blundell (3), Mitchell Santner (33), Tim Southee (5) and Ajaz Patel (4).
The highlight was Sundar’s dismissal of the in-form Ravindra. Sundar’s throw spun away, hit Ravindra’s bat and crashed into the off-stump, preventing a balanced attack and defense.
Devon Conway top-scored with 76 off 141 balls, including 11 fours, but was one of Ashwin’s three wickets at the top.
Conway effectively used reverse sweeps against the spinners and drives against pacers to pick up runs. However, he missed a century by pushing an innocuous delivery outside off and getting caught behind Ashwin.
New Zealand faced further difficulties as skipper Latham and Daryl Mitchell failed to hit form despite spending a lot of time at the crease.