Re: Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]
Also, Pant got unlucky with that controversial call.
Pant dismissal wasn't really too much controversial. There was clear audio spike when the ball passed the bat. Rishabh Pant was doing very well, that's why some supporters might address his wicket as controversial. But I would blame the captain Rohit Sharma for this defeat. He was in a hurry mode to finish the game instead of showing some responsibilities, and got out by playing a poor shot. It was only 3rd day of the match, they could have won it by building up a good opening partnership by playing in slow and steady mode.
It was unthinkable that an experienced team like India would fail to win at a target of just 147 runs. Indian fans were sure that India was going to win this match. If the batsmen of the Indian squad would have batted a little slower, and only tried to stay at the crease, then the Indian team would have been able to reach the target of victory in this match very easily. But the Indian batsmen were too hasty. Rishab Pant was able to play an innings requiring 64 runs but he collected 64 runs from 57 balls. Rishab Pant batted at 112 strike rate. Indian batsmen would have been able to collect 147 runs only if they had stayed at the crease.
Two bowlers of Indian squad Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja bowled well. These two bowlers took 17 wickets. New Zealand's Ajaz Patel picked up 11 wickets and Glenn Phillips picked up 4 wickets as Ajaz Patel's excellent bowling allowed India to score only 121 runs in the second innings. Ajaz Patel took 57 runs with 6 wickets and Phillips took 42 runs with 3 wickets.