NAGPUR: India rode on some inspired spin bowling to thrash New Zealand by an innings and 198 runs in the third and final Test on Tuesday and claim the series 1-0.
Spinners Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Suresh Raina shared seven wickets before paceman Ishant Sharma finished off the tail, bowling out New Zealand for 175 early into the second session on the fourth day of the match.
New Zealand started the day needing 349 runs to avoid an innings defeat after conceding a huge 373-run lead to India who made 566-8 in their first innings, built around a 191-run knock by Rahul Dravid.
The visitors, weighed down by the enormity of the task at hand, crumbled without much resistance to gift top-ranked India one of their biggest Test wins in recent times.
India owed their success as much to the pacemen who struck early blows on the first day of the match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium to bowl out New Zealand for 193 and set the stage for victory.
“We lost the match with the bat,” said New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori. “Winning the toss, batting first and then making only 193 is not something that will win you a Test match.
New Zealand, placed at number eight in Test rankings, suffered their second batting collapse in the match after resuming the day on 24-1. Ojha (2-67) picked off his first victim in the second over of the morning, trapping overnight batsman Brendon McCullum (25) leg before wicket with a ball that pitched on the middle stump.
McCullum, who came in to open the second innings after batting at number eight in the first due to back spasms, finished as the highest run-getter for New Zealand with a tally of 370 from three Tests.
Ojha then claimed Martin Guptill for a golden duck in his next over to leave New Zealand tottering at 38-3.
The bowler, however, missed out on a third wicket after his appeal for a leg before off Ross Taylor was turned down by umpire Simon Taufel. TV replays showed the ball would have hit the middle stump.
