During the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand, Sarfaraz Khan became angry with Rishabh Pant after a major mix-up while running between the wickets.
This incident occurred on the first ball of the 55th over when Matt Henry bowled to Sarfaraz, who Sarfaraz cuts the ball towards deep backward point for a single. There was a big misunderstanding when Pant started slowly and almost ran out. At first, they might have thought of making two runs, but Sarfaraz was shouting and signaling Pant to stop, but Pant was too glued to the ball and ran to mid-wicket.
Also Read: A glimpse of former Virat Kohli, but uncertainty remains
But India were lucky because Blundell, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, was in front of the stumps and the delivery was inaccurate. He had to run forward to pick it up and in doing so could only attempt an underarm delivery, which missed the stumps.
Watch the video here
Watch as Safaraz jumps and shouts at Pant to come back
Had that resulted in a burnout, India could have found itself in trouble. However, thanks to Blundell’s error, this did not happen, and India can breathe a sigh of relief from what could have been a costly scare.
Also read: Tackling India spinners the Devon Conway way
India are now 62 runs away with 7 wickets in hand
Talking about the match, India ended Day 2 losing by 125 runs after starting the day with a huge spell of 356 runs. This was thanks to a 50 from captain Rohit, a 70 from Kohli and an unbeaten 70 from Sarfaraz. However, thanks to aggressive play from Sarfaraz and Pant at the start of Day 3, they reduced that deficit to 62 runs, with Sarfaraz reaching his first Test hundred.
With more than 150 overs left in the match and key batsmen like Rahul, Jadeja and Ashwin still to come, India aims to set a target for New Zealand that gives their bowlers a good chance of dismissing them effectively.
If India wins the Test from this position, it would set a record as no team has managed to achieve a lead of this magnitude after the first innings.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.