Cricket / India lose 2nd Test to NZ in 3 days, suffer Test series whitewash after 8 years

Christchurch: India started their New Zealand tour with a 5-0 whitewash in the T20I series but the hosts then hit back with a 3-0 win in the ODI series. This trend continued as they walloped Kohli and company by 7 wickets in the second India vs New Zealand Test match in Christchurch to bag the series 2-0. With this win, Kane Williamson and team pocketed all the 120 points on offer. They have now snuck up to 180 points and move to the third sport in the points table. India, with 360 points, remain the number 1 side in the World Test Championship.

It was not a very memorable series for Indian captain Virat Kohli - he could only manage 218 runs across formats in 11 outings and this was the lowest run tally for him in a tour involving all the three formats. Previously, Kohli’s worst tally was 254 during the disastrous England tour in 2014 when he failed to negotiate the threat from the England fast bowlers.

“It was a matter of not having enough intent in the first game, and not closing out here. We didn’t bowl in the right areas for long enough. They created a lot of pressure. It was a combination of us not executing well enough and New Zealand sticking to their plans. The batsmen didn’t do enough for the bowlers to try and attack,” Indian captain Virat Kohli said after the match.

“Disappointing, have to go back to the drawing board and correct things going forward. Toss, you could think about it being a factor, but we don’t complain. It did give extra advantage to the bowlers in each Test but as an international side, you’re expected to understand that. We accept it upfront and if we have to win away from home, we have to do that. No excuses, just learning moving forward. In Tests, we weren’t able to play the cricket we wanted to,” he further added.