Ajaz remained New Zealand’s only wicket-taker, having taken all six to fall
Lunch India 285 for 6 (Agarwal 146*, Axar 32*, Ajaz 6-103) vs New Zealand
The unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 61 had pushed India into safer territory after a double Ajaz strike in the day’s second over, in a morning session where patience was the theme for both sides. India scored only 64 runs in 28 overs bowled in the session, but didn’t lose any wickets after two had fallen in the second over of the day to leave them wobbly. All the while, Agarwal carried on as if he had not left the crease, showing decisive footwork, quick hands and the sound judgement of which balls to leave and which to play that had held him in such good stead on Day 1.
Agarwal wasn’t shy of dancing down the track to try and hit Ajaz off his lengths, but he didn’t do it in trigger-happy fashion, picking and choosing his moments. When Will Somerville adopted a largely defensive line to him, bowling on leg stump from around the wicket, he didn’t try to manufacture shots to push the scoring along, but waited for the inevitable errors in length that allowed him to knock the ball into gaps.
At the other end, Axar showed his batting chops too, particularly square of the wicket when given room and length outside off, or when the bowlers strayed full on the pads. Together, the two steadied India after Ajaz had threatened to unravel them.
In his first over of the day, Ajaz skid one onto Wriddhiman Saha’s front knee-roll, with the batter mis-reading the length and hanging on the back foot. It looked out in real-time and Saha opted to walk off without taking a review after a brief chat with Agarwal. The review wouldn’t have saved him in any case, with the impact being umpire’s call on off-stump but the ball hitting the stumps. The very next ball, Ajaz got one to drift and dip on Ashwin who couldn’t reach the pitch even when lunging forward, only for the ball to spin the perfect amount to miss bat but hit stumps. Ashwin was so flummoxed he signaled for a review at first, because he thought he had been given out caught behind.
The two strikes first up meant India went from a strong 221 for 4 to a shaky 224 for 6, which is when Axar joined Agarwal.
Ajaz continued to wheel away, and stayed consistent, but the other bowlers offered only intermittent threats. Tim Southee was tight, but not threatening enough, while Somerville and Kyle Jamieson couldn’t stick to consistent lengths and lines.
New Zealand took the new ball as soon as it was available after 80 overs, although Ajaz continued to operate from one end even with the ball change. In all, he bowled 13 of the 28 overs of the morning session, and has bowled 42 of the 98 overs that New Zealand have sent down so far.
On a pitch that already offers sharp turn, India have reached a total that will give them some breathing space, although they will look to their remaining batters to push that into more safe zones. For New Zealand, much depends on what else Ajaz can conjure, unless the other bowlers step it up too and they could still hold India to a reasonable total.
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo