[Watch] Rohit Sharma brings up his half-century with three consecutive boundaries on Day 3 of IND vs NZ 2024 1st Test
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma brought up his half-century in grand style on Day 3 against New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The right-handed batter hammered three boundaries on the trot off right-arm seamer Matt Henry to showcase his aggressive approach.
The incident occurred in the 21st over of the innings as the 37-year-old took a single and Virat Kohli took another to give the strike back to the skipper. Rohit started by smacking the ball through the cover region, followed by pulling one over mid-wicket for a six. The veteran played a grounded pull shot for a boundary in the second-last delivery again to get to his half-century.
Watch Rohit's fireworks here:
Henry, notably, was the wrecker-in-chief for the Kiwis on Day 2 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, taking five wickets to skittle out the home side for 46. The right-arm seamer dismissed Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav. The aggregate of 46 proved to be India's lowest total in Tests on home soil.
Rohit Sharma dismissed under unfortunate circumstances by Ajaz Patel
Nevertheless, Rohit's dismissal came in the very next over as Ajaz Patel got the better of him. The Nagpur-born cricketer had played a forward defensive shot, but the ball took the inside edge and trickled onto the stumps, leaving the skipper dejected as he walked back for 52. Patel had earlier dismissed Yashavi Jaiswal too.
The Kiwis began the day with a 134-run lead, but lost the likes of Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell and Glenn Phillips cheaply. However, Tim Southee and Rachin Ravindra joined hands to put India on the backfoot by lunch as the lead neared 300 then. Ravindra reached his ton with a boundary off Ravichandran Ashwin, while Southee perished after smacking a brisk 65. Ravindra was also the last New Zealand batter to be dismissed as they walked away with a lead of 356.
A win for the tourists will be their first on Indian soil since 1988.