News Karnataka
Friday, March 29 2024
Cricket
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India set New Zealand a target of 376

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Kolkata: India were all out for 263 in their second innings on Day 4 of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Eden Gardens here on Monday, setting the visitors a target of 376 for victory.
Rohit Sharma’s 82 runs and Wriddhiman Saha’s unbeaten 58 helped India reach 263 on day four of the second Test against New Zealand in Kolkata. The visitors need a massive 376 runs in the last innings of the Test to level the series.

Sharma played an assured knock on a pitch with variable bounce, negotiating both pace and spin with ease. He faced 132 balls and hit nine fours and two well-timed sixes. He reached his sixth test fifty off 89 deliveries.

Sharma’s batting helped the hosts recover from a precarious situation, and with a sizeable lead, they are now once again in command of this Test.

“There was something in the surface throughout the day. It’s not a typical Kolkata wicket,” said Sharma, who has been under fire for a string of low scores. “I am not under any pressure. I scored runs in the first test (in Kanpur) too.”

With Saha, Sharma put on 103 runs for the seventh wicket, the fourth time in last five tests that India have had a century partnership for this pairing. In doing so, the duo pushed the score past the 200-mark and took the overall lead to 300 to put the hosts in a comfortable position.

Sharma, who scored a maiden test hundred on debut at Eden Gardens against West Indies in 2013, was approaching his second ton when he was caught behind off Mitchell Santner (3-51).

The left-arm spinner also accounted for Ravindra Jadeja (6), caught off a skier. Play was halted early due to bad light.

With the variable bounce in the pitch, the match already looks beyond the visitors’ reach. The highest fourth innings’ target chased successfully here is 117 by India against South Africa in 2004.

Trent Boult (3-38), Matt Henry (3-59) and Mitchell Santner (3-60) were the principal wicket takers for the visitors.

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