Ajaz Patel snagged all four wickets on day one for the Black Caps. Photo / AP
Ajaz Patel snagged all four wickets on day one for the Black Caps. Photo / AP
Playing their first test in Mumbai since 2016, India were searching for a dominant opening day against the Black Caps – but they were dented by a New Zealander who felt right at home.
Spinner Ajaz Patel, born in Mumbai and raised in India's largest city until he was eight,claimed all four wickets as India reached 221-4 at stumps on day one of the second test.
It was still India's day – winning the toss helped substantially – with opener Mayank Agarwal anchoring the innings to reach stumps unbeaten on 120, alongside Wriddhiman Saha on 25.
India's Mayank Agarwal celebrates scoring a century. Photo / AP
But Patel's one-man show saved the Black Caps from dire straits after a start to the test that couldn't have been much worse.
First came the news – already known within the team but delivered to the public before the toss – that captain Kane Williamson was out of this test, and likely more to come, with a flare-up of his ongoing elbow injury.
If that came as a surprise to India, they then had plenty of time to stew on it, with the first session washed out due to a wet outfield.
Kane Williamson was ruled out with an elbow injury. Photo / Photosport
Stand-in captain Tom Latham then promptly lost the toss, acknowledged he would have much rather batted first but oh well thems the breaks, and two and a half hours after the scheduled start, led his side out on the park in search of quick wickets.
Twenty seven overs later, India were 80-0, and the inspiration of the thrilling first test draw looked further away than the 1300km trip the teams made from Kanpur to Mumbai.
However, one man who relished that trip was Patel, who spoke passionately before the test about what it meant to him to be playing in his place of birth.
And, playing in front of some family members for the first time, Patel made them proud, with a stunning spell of three wickets in two overs launching the Black Caps back into contention.
Ajaz Patel snagged all four wickets on day one for the Black Caps. Photo / AP
From 80-0, India tumbled to 80-3, with Patel claiming scalps that would make any spinner proud as he sent Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli packing.
Each wicket had a curious quirk to it. Gill should have been out a ball earlier, only for Tom Blundell to miss a stumping, but Patel removed him the following delivery, drawing the opener into a prod that went to Ross Taylor at slip.
The same situation played out in his next over, with a big lbw appeal on Pujara drawing an unsuccessful review, before once more the next ball Patel struck, with Pujara coming down the pitch but only managing to york himself as the ball spun onto the stumps.
Pujara was gone for a duck, then four balls later so was Kohli, with the returning captain trapped lbw. A confident review led to a lengthy third umpire process, but replays were inconclusive about whether the ball first hit pad or bat, and an animated Kohli had to eventually trudge off.
Suddenly, with a spell of 8-7-2-3, Patel had spared the blushes of a poor start to the innings, in which Kyle Jamieson had his worst opening spell of his glistening short career, Tim Southee couldn't find the first test magic, and Will Somerville was dire.
India's Mayank Agarwal played aggressively. Photo / AP
Somerville was a controversial inclusion over Neil Wagner, and perhaps Patel proved that loading up on spinners was the right call, with more turn and bounce available on day one than there was in Kanpur.
But Somerville was not the man to extract it, going for 46 runs from eight off-key overs, with Agarwal particularly brutal at dispatching Somerville's bad deliveries, smashing him for 26 runs off 31 balls. He smoked 14 fours and four sixes, with India bashing six sixes as they kept the run rate flowing, regularly advancing down the track to the slower bowlers to keep the pressure on.
Jamieson improved after a wayward opening spell and Southee was tight and tidy, but Somerville's sloppiness and a lack of incision from Daryl Mitchell – Williamson's replacement – and Rachin Ravindra meant Agarwal held the innings together after Patel's procession, reaching his fourth test century off 196 balls.
The hometown hero wasn't done though, and still managed to end another 80-run stand, removing first test star Shreyas Iyer for 18 with a ball that Iyer edged onto the top of his pad, with Blundell casually popping out from behind the stumps to pocket a simple catch.
Tom Blundell takes the catch to remove India's Shreyas Iyer. Photo / AP
Unfortunately for New Zealand, that was the last wicket to fall. The final session saw 110 runs added for only the loss of Iyer, with Saha excellently protecting a long tail to ensure India held a comfortable position at stumps.
Much like in the first test, early wickets on day two will see the Black Caps storm back into the contest, but to accomplish that, more bowlers have to adjust to the conditions, and start feeling at home.
