Washington Sundar scripts records with 11 wickets in Pune Test
Washington Sundar has registered a major milestone in his Test cricket career, taking his maiden 10-wicket match haul. The all-rounder, who missed the first Test match against New Zealand, made a strong impact in the second Test by taking seven wickets in the first innings and four in the second. His efforts meant NZ were folded for 255 in the third innings. India have been set a target for 359 runs in Pune.
Sundar's stellar performance dismantles New Zealand's batting lineup
In the first innings, Sundar put on a show by taking seven wickets and ripping apart the New Zealand batting lineup. He finished with 7/59 as NZ went from 197/3 to 259/10. In the second innings, he was on fire again as four of the five fallen NZ wickets on Day 2 belonged to him. He overall finished with 4/56.
Sundar's journey to his 1st 10-wicket match haul
Sundar has played five Tests for India, taking 17 wickets at 24.35, including 11 in the ongoing Pune match. He has also played against England and Australia, where he took two wickets in five innings against England and four wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Overall, this was his second match 10-fer in FC cricket as he has raced to 76 scalps at 28-plus.
Sundar scripts these records
Sundar became the fourth Indian after Ravichandran Ashwin, Erapalli Prasanna, Anil Kumble, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan to accomplish a 10-wicket match haul against NZ. Notably, Ashwin owns three 10-fers against them. Overall, Sundar's match figures of 11/115 are the fourth-best for India versus NZ in the longest format. He is only behind Ashwin (13/140 in 2016 and 12/85 in 2012) and Venkataraghavan (12/152 in 1965).
Sundar's inclusion in India squad
Notably, Sundar was called up to the India squad after he starred with both the bat and the ball for Tamil Nadu against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy second round match in the ongoing season. He scored 152 off 269 balls in the first innings and had a match haul of six wickets. Straightaway, he was given a look in the starting line-up for India's second Test against New Zealand, replacing Kuldeep Yadav.
How has the match proceeded?
The Kiwis posted 259/10 batting first thanks to fifties from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. As mentioned, Sundar dismissed seven batters. Mitchell Santner's career-best spell of 7/53 helped NZ bowl India out for 156 in the second innings. Skipper Tom Latham made 86 as the visitors managed 255/10 in the third innings, setting India a target of 359 runs. Ravindra Jadeja dismissed three batters while Sundar bagged a four-fer.
