• India ended Day 5 with 64/2 on the scoreboard in their second innings.

  • Tim Southee removed Rohit Sharma for 30 runs right before stumps.

Twitter reactions: Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara steady as India extend 32 runs lead on Day 5 of WTC final
Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara (Image Source: Twitter)

Table of Contents

The fifth day of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand ended with the Virat Kohli-led side dominating major parts of the day. After bundling out Black Caps for 249, India started pretty steadily, with openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill making runs at an economy rate of around 2.00.

However, Kiwi pacer Tim Southee had some other plans as he displayed some of the most remarkable bowling. The veteran speedster trapped youngster Gill in front during the 11th over of India’s second innings and drew the first blood. Gill made just 8 runs off 33 balls.

On the other hand, Rohit looked solid and was trying his best to tackle the top quality spells. But an error in judgement cost his wicket during the 27th over, just a few minutes before the stumps on the fifth day.

Southee set him up nicely with few outswingers, followed by a sharp incoming delivery. Rohit raised his shoulders and offered no shot, anticipating that the ball would move away. However, the red-leather nipped back in and hit Rohit’s pads, and the umpire wasted no time to give him out.

Before the officials announced the stumps, India had put up 64/2 on the scoreboard, leading New Zealand by 32 runs.

Earlier, New Zealand began the day with their overnight score of 101/2. However, they were reduced to 135/5 at lunch as Indian bowlers bowled some lethal spells to dominate the first session of the day.

Speedster Mohammad Shami led the pace attack by providing the initial breakthrough in the form of Ross Taylor (11). Soon Ishant Sharma joined the rally and sent back Henry Nicholls (7). Then, Shami continued his aggressive spell and cleaned up New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling (1) to keep India at the top at lunch.

Colin de Grandomme (13) showed his intentions from the word go, but a ripping in-swinger from Shami packed his innings. However, the Kiwi tail added quite a few vital runs to frustrate the Indians. The last four wickets added as many as 87 runs to help New Zealand a vital 32-run lead before bundling out for 249 runs.

Skipper Williamson stood tall against a top-quality Indian bowling attack in challenging conditions. He eventually fell one run short of his half-century as Ishant sent him back to the pavilion.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1407396452243062785

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