Mumbai Mumbai. The counter-attacking Indian team, with the help of brilliant half-century innings by the trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan, dashed the hopes of a miraculous comeback by scoring 231 runs for three wickets in their second innings on the third day of the first Test match against New Zealand on Friday. kept alive. Kohli (70), who completed 9,000 Test runs during his innings, was out on the last ball of the day to Glenn Phillips, who was caught by Tom Blundell and Sarfaraz (70) was present at the crease. At the end of an overcast day the margin was 125 runs.
Kohli and Sarfaraz added 136 runs for the third wicket, while captain Rohit scored the opening 52 runs.
New Zealand scored 402 runs and took a huge lead of 356 runs, for which Rachin Ravindra (134) and Tim Southee (63) added 134 runs for the eighth wicket.
The largest margin that India has made to win a Test in its cricket history is 274 runs, which happened in the Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001.
Such an epic is still a way off, but hopes are fading after a day's efforts with the bat.
Amidst the brilliant half-centuries from Rohit and Sarfaraz, Kohli's effort is still notable for its individual and situational significance.
It was his first Test half-century of 2024, and he couldn't have made it any better for his 31st in the longer format – literally and figuratively.
Hardly any shot captures Kohli's touch better than a cover drive, and the moment he took one off fast bowler William O'Rourke, the 35-year-old was completely in rhythm. He achieved this feat by playing 15 balls.
Kohli completed his half-century by taking a single off Matt Henry, but at the other end, Sarfaraz looked like a race car on the tarmac.
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