Rohit went with both hands and made it look easy when it wasn’t as straightforward.
Rohit Sharma took a well-judged catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell on the first delivery of the 66th over off Washington Sundar’s bowling. The ball was low and came at a good pace, but the Indian captain ensured grabbing it before touching the turf.
Sundar bowled a length delivery outside the off-stump line, and Daryl tried to work it with the angle towards the third-man region by opening the bat’s face. However, he couldn’t place it properly, and the risk involved in this shot was high, for a slip was placed.
Rohit moved to his right, took his hands low to grab the ball just above the ground, and completed a fine catch. While it looked easy from far, the Indian captain must be credited for showing agility to predict and move towards the direction of the ball immediately after seeing Daryl’s shot.
Also Read: Robin Uthappa goes berserk; slams 27 runs in opening over in Hong Kong Sixes[WATCH]
Had he delayed moving towards the ball, he might have not made it, and another chance would have gone down. Rohit went with both hands and made it look easy when it wasn’t as straightforward to provide a big wicket of Daryl Mitchell, who was batting beautifully amidst wickets falling around him.
After winning the toss, New Zealand opted to bat first in a bid to clean-sweep India on their own turf. However, they didn’t get an ideal start, losing Devon Conway on a mere 4 in the fourth over off Akash Deep’s bowling before Tom Latham and Will Young weaved a small partnership.
However, the stand couldn’t last long, and the wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Will Young (71) and Daryl Mitchell (82) played brilliantly, but other batters couldn’t provide much support and kept losing wickets one after another, bundling on 235 in 65.4 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up his 14th five-wicket haul, while Washington Sundar got four wickets for India. It was a terrific bowling effort from the Indian team, and they will be happy with their effort.
The onus will be on batters to bat well and provide the team with a healthy first-innings lead. The track will get tougher for batting from here on.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
