The incident occurred in the 25th over of the innings, just after Ravichandran Ashwin had taken his second wicket of the day by dismissing Will Young. Ravindra Jadeja, bowling over the wicket to a well-set Conway, hit the batter on his pads. The Indian team immediately appealed for an lbw, but the umpire ruled it not out due to the amount of turn after pitching. The fielders nearby, especially Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, who had been instrumental in Young's dismissal, thought differently and were convinced it was out.
Among the fielders, only Kohli seemed to have a different take on the matter. Certain the ball was missing leg, Kohli walked up to Rohit to talk him out of taking the DRS, but the skipper had made his mind any way. He signalled the T, only for India to lose their first review of the match. Simon Doull even highlighted on air "No Rohit, come on. Don't take it. It's missing leg," but if only the commentators' voice reached the captain on the ground.
New Zealand keep India at bay
Conway was batting on 38 when India lost their review. He went on to complete a half-century, scoring 76 off 141 balls with 11 fours. Ashwin finally got rid of Conway for his third wicket of the day, but it wasn't before New Zealand had batted their way to a strong position of 138/2. The BlackCaps built on it even further, with Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell joining hands and adding a fifty-run partnership. All-rounder Rachin continued his stellar form from the previous Test, scoring a fifty and adding to his century in Bengaluru last week.
India had to wait for 16 overs before they finally ended New Zealand’s threatening partnership, with Washington Sundar getting the breakthrough. In news for all the wrong reasons – replacing Kuldeep Yadav as India's third spinner – the all-rounder dismissed the dangerous-looking Rachin for 65
And here's why. New Zealand seemed to be running away with the session unless Sundar struck not once but twice in quick succession. After Rachin's wicket, India dealt New Zealand another blow with Sundar exploiting the big gate between Tom Blundell's bat and pad for the ball to crash onto the stumps. From 197/3, New Zealand finished on 201/5 at tea with spinners beginning to gain assistance. The match couldn't have been more evenly poised after the first two sessions of the day.
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