Bengaluru, Oct 19, 2024 Saturday saw a riveting turn of events in Test cricket action before rain forced early stumps on the fourth day of the match, just four balls after New Zealand began their pursuit of 107 against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Captain Tom Latham survived four deliveries from Jasprit Bumrah, including an lbw appeal off an inswinger, with replays showing the ball pitching outside leg, as India burnt a review.
With the sky becoming quite dark, on-field umpires took the reading on the light meter and went off the field, though India didn’t seem to agree on it and argued with them. That soon paved the way for ground staff to bring all the heavy covers on as rain arrived and became heavy to bring an end to the day’s proceedings, with New Zealand now needing play to happen without interruptions on Day Five to get their first Test win in India since 1988. Previously, at one point, India were 408/3 and looked primed to set a big target for New Zealand, thanks to a thrilling counter-attacking 177-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sarfaraz Khan (150) and Rishabh Pant (99).
But once New Zealand took the second new ball, when India were at 400/3, they prised out the remaining seven wickets for just 54 runs as India crumbed to 462 all out in 99.3 overs, with fast-bowlers William O’Rourke and Matt Henry taking three wickets each. For India, Sarfaraz slammed a fantastic maiden century laced with strokes mostly on square through the off-side, while Pan.
