India and New Zealand witnessed a delayed start to the second and final Test in the ongoing bilateral series at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium owing to rains. There were some injuries in both teams and some last minute changes were made to accommodate players in their places.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was back in the Playing XI, replacing an injured Ajinkya Rahane. Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma, who sat out due to injuries, were replaced by Jayant Jadav and Mohammed Siraj respectively. For New Zealand, Kane Williamson sat out due to an injury, with Tom Latham taking over captaincy duties.

Below are the highlights of the match so far

Agarwal gets a clinical century

Mayank Agarwal led the Indian attack on Day 1 with a fine century. His 120* (246) was a blissful innings of 14 fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 48.78. His patient knock has been the pillar around which India’s first innings has revolved so far.

This century is the first by an opener in India against New Zealand since Sehwag’s in 2010. His knock was crucial as it held together an innings where two of the most experienced batters, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, were sent away for a duck.

Gill, Shreyas, Saha make handy contributions

Playing second fiddle to Mayank were Shuhman Gill at the top and Wriddhiman Saha at the end of the day. Gill (44 off 71) and Agarwal together stitched up an 80-run stand for the first wicket, giving India a good start. However, his wicket, followed by Kohli and Pujara’s put India in a spot of concern.

Shreyas Iyer may have only scored 18 (41), but his stand with Agarwal was worth 80 runs, helping India steady the ship. Wriddhiman Saha came in at this point, scoring 25* (53) and building an unbeaten 61-run partnership to see India to 221/4 at Stumps, Day 1.

Ajaz Patel takes it all on Day 1 for New Zealand

New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel was single-handedly responsible for the mini-collapse of the Indian batting order. He sent back all four batters who lost their wickets today. His efforts have helped him finish with numbers 29-10-73-4 at the end of Day 1.

It was an eventful day at Wankhede, despite the match starting only at 12 noon. Here’s hoping for more cricket-friendly conditions tomorrow!

Day 2

Mayank and Axar stitch an important partnership

The morning got off to a rocky start with Wriddhiman Saha – who had put up a strong fight the previous day – departed early and was quickly followed by Ashwin. Axar Patel joined Mayank Agarwal in the middle and they put up a valiant fight in the face of adversity putting together 67 and pushing India’s total to 325. Mayank continued his trend of scoring big once he gets past the forty run mark with his 3^rd 150.

Ajaz Patel creates history

Mumbai-born left arm spinner Ajaz Patel got his name etched into the history books with a stunning performance getting all ten Indian wickets. With this, he joins an exclusive club in the company of legends Anil Kumble and Jim Laker. An additional feather in his hat is the fact that he’s the only one out of three to have achieved this feat in the 1^st innings of a Test match.

Ashwin, Siraj, run through the Kiwis

India’s bowlers were on song right from the get go. Mohammed Siraj started the collapse getting 3 early on and the spinners had three apiece at the Tea Break with New Zealand reeling at 38/6. Ashwin got four in no time post Tea and Axar got Kyle Jamieson to finish the Kiwis off at 62.

Mayank, Pujara lead India’s charge in the 2^nd innings

Cheteshwar Pujara walked out to open instead of the injured Shubhman Gill who was struck on the arm while fielding at short leg. Both openers batted with intent scoring at a brisk rate against the tired looking Kiwi bowlers. They outscored the Kiwi first innings by the end of days play, while remaining unbeaten. India now stand at 69/0, leading New Zealand by 332 runs.

Day 3

Cameos from the middle order help India set a huge target of 540

Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara who were at the crease overnight continued their charge on day 3 despite the ball turning square off the pitch. Mayank hurt his wrist after getting struck by Jamieson and was in clear discomfort. He started playing aggressively to every ball soon after, before eventually getting out on 62, taking his aggregate score in the match to 212.

Pujara departed for a well-made 47 soon after. Shubhman Gill and Virat Kohli put together an 82-run partnership before they both fell for 47 and 36 respectively. Axar Patel came in ahead of Ashwin and played his shots from the get go scoring 41 in just 26 balls as India declared at 276/7. A late surge from the southpaw ensured the momentum stayed with the hosts ahead of the final innings.

Ajaz Patel creates history yet again

Ajaz Patel has his name at the top of the list of performances by bowlers against India with an incredible 14 wickets in the match. To do so in only his 11th Test and in Mumbai where he was born is just fairytale stuff.

Just as in the first innings, Ajaz troubled the Indian batters with his flighted deliveries that got the better of Mayank, Pujara, Iyer and Jayant in the second innings. With a feat of 14 wickets at Wankhede, Ajaz Patel bettered the record of Ian Botham (13/106 in 1980 at Wankhede) of taking most wickets in a Test match against India.

Spinners keep India in the driving seat

With a mountain of runs to score, New Zealand needed their top order to hold the fort and be in the middle for as long as possible. But Ravichandran Ashwin had other plans as he struck thrice on Day 3 to put the Kiwis on the back foot.

Axar Patel also joined in on the act with the all-important wicket of Daryl Mitchell who played a brilliant counter-attacking knock of 60. He was the only Kiwi batter who took charge against the Indians and showed some positive intent to score. But he soon lost his patience and perished with a rash shot.

Tom Blundell was run out by substitute KS Bharat as New Zealand lost half their side with just 129 on the board. Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra fought off the last half an hour but will have to do it all over again tomorrow on Day 4. India are on the brink of an emphatic Test win at Wankhede, courtesy of continued dominance on all three days of the game.

Day 4 

Henry Nicholls’ attempt at delaying the inevitable 

Overnight batter Henry Nicholls attempted a revival from 140/5 with two full days of play to go. His 44 (111) was the only noteworthy knock, along with an 18 (50) from Rachin Ravindra. The end of Nicholls’ stay at the crease marked the end of New Zealand’s fight, and the falling of all 10 wickets, handing India their win. 

Jayant Yadav registers career-best figures 

Spinner Jayant Yadav was on fire today morning as he registered his career-best figures of 4/49. He was almost single-handedly responsible for New Zealand losing five wickets in the last five runs they scored, and win India the match. Yadav took out Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson (0), Tim Southee (0) and William Somerville (1) to reduce New Zealand from 162/5 to 167/9. 

Ashwin bags four, rings in the victory for India 

Senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had bagged three wickets on Day 3 during New Zealand’s second innings. On Day four, he hammered the final nail in the coffin for the Black Caps batters by taking out Henry Nicholls. Ashwin finished with numbers 22.3-9-34-4. 

With this win, India have recorded their biggest win by runs in a Test match, overtaking the 337-run win against South Africa in Delhi in 2015. This win also brought with it the series win for India, taking the team 1-0 up in a two-match affair. India have now pocketed both the T20 and Test series against New Zealand. 

From Ajaz Patel’s “ten-for” and New Zealand’s massive collapse to Mayank Agarwal’s knocks and India’s massive victory, Wankhede has given us yet another memory to cherish with this see-sawing Test match!

This Test win has put India right back at the top of the ICC Test Rankings with 3465 points, overtaking New Zealand, who now have 3021 points. India has also registered their first win for the 2023 World Test Championship with this victory. Here's hoping for more of these.