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India vs New Zealand 2024/25, IND vs NZ 2nd Test Match Report, October 24 – 28, 2024

Vaseline October 24, 2024

Lunch New Zealand 92 for 2 (Conway 47*, Ashwin 2-33) vs India

After losing what turned out to be a good toss to lose in Bengaluru, New Zealand won an important toss on a dry Pune pitch with drier areas of good length for spinners. They raced away to 30 for 0 before the spin started, and despite losing a wicket on the first over of the spin they continued to score at a reasonable clip. However, R Ashwin managed to take two wickets before lunch to make it an even session.

When the series moved from Bengaluru to Pune, the clouds and much of the bounce were lost. Tom Latham and Devon Conway made a confident start against the duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep, who found some swing in the air but not the off-surface movement that made the fast bowlers a threat in Bengaluru.

It took Ashwin just five balls to drive one in and then turn it past the outside edge to trap Latham lbw. This ball turned from the right part of the field, but the spin was not yet consistent or threatening. Conway managed to sweep well and also picked up runs off the back foot while Ashwin and Washington Sundar bowled with in-out pitches.

The partnership between Conway and Will Young was beginning to look threatening but a sharp assessment, demanded by short-leg Sarfaraz Khan, saw Young return with a light touch of the glove. Now the spinners started to look more threatening. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja continued to trouble the batters as in the 11 overs they bowled in succession, they made 24 false shots and conceded just 30 runs.

Conway, who survived an outside edge from Ashwin just before lunch, remained unbeaten on 47.