New Zealand has secured an historic 3-0 series victory in India with a dramatic 25-run win in the third Test.
Ajaz Patel took 6 for 57 to bowl the Black Caps to victory as they became the first visiting side to complete a clean sweep in a minimum three-Test series against India.
Glenn Phillips provided strong support, picking up 3 for 42 as India crashed to 121 all out in 29.1 overs shortly after lunch on the third day.
Rishabh Pant was the lone resistance for the hosts with 64 off 57 balls, including nine fours and a six, but his counter-attacking half-century went in vain as India lost its last three wickets in four balls.
Rishabh was praised as “simply superb” by India legend Sachin Tendulkar, who posted on social media that the loss was “a tough pill to swallow” that needed to be closely reviewed ahead of the five-Test series in Australia starting on November 22.
India’s previous worst showing was a 2-0 loss to Hansie Cronje’s South Africa in 2000 in a two-Test series. Its last loss in a home series was to England — 2-1 in a four-Test series — in 2012.
Patel’s six wickets took his tally at the Wankhede Stadium to 25 in four innings. He bowled a record 10 for 119 here in 2021, finishing that game with 14 wickets.
New Zealand won the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune by eight wickets and 113 runs, respectively, registering a maiden Test series win in India, but an even greater achievement was to come.
It was the first instance of New Zealand winning three Tests in a series home or away, and the first instance of winning three successive away Tests.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said it may just be the best Test series win ever.
“We are ecstatic,” Black Caps captain Tom Latham said.
“Looking back at the start of the series, to be now in this position, the boys have done a fantastic job over the last three Tests.
“We understood how India play and just tried to do our best. Our players chipped in at different times through the series.”
It was the second-lowest total defended by New Zealand to win a Test, after 137 runs against England in Wellington in 1978.
“It is not something easily digestible,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said.
“We didn’t play our best cricket and we have to accept it. I didn’t do well as captain and as batter. We made a lot of mistakes.
“They did so much better than us throughout the series.”
AP/ABC
