India v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Kolkata: Paradise regained at Eden

KOLKATA: When the sun set on the eastern part of the country on Monday evening, Team India rose to occupy the No.1 spot in Test rankings after beating New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test and taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Eden Gardens here.
However, they have to wait until the end of the series to be officially crowned as the world's leading Test side.It will be the fourth time that India will occupy the coveted position. They were top of the table between November 2009 and August 2011, then for a brief period between January-February 2016 and again in August this year.
Team India also continued their dream run by wrapping up their fourth consecutive series win and are unbeaten in their last 13 Tests. Very few expected New Zealand to save this match when they came out to bat in the fourth innings on the fourth morning of the Test, needing 376 runs for victory. But they batted well and looked composed to reach 135 for three at the tea break.
With the pitch having eased out, there was no uneven bounce and Indian pacers failed to breach the defence of the two Kiwi openers. But, as is their wont, the Kiwis threw away a good start and lost wickets in a heap to surrender the Test and the series. The final session saw seven New Zealand wickets going down in under 30 overs for the addition of just 62 runs.
Martin Guptill and Tom Latham gave them the right start by stitching together New Zealand's highest opening stand (55) of the series before off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin struck. The out-of-form Guptill was trapped leg-before wicket for 24 in the first over after lunch.
Henry Nicholls and Latham carried on the good work, adding 49 runs, before India came roaring back to remove Nicholls and stand-in skipper Ross Taylor in quick succession. While Ravindra Jadeja had the former caught at first slip by Ajinkya Rahane, Ashwin claimed his 400th international wicket (in all formats) by dismissing Taylor lbw with a cleverly disguised straighter one.
The Tamil Nadu spinner bowled 22 overs on the trot in hot and humid conditions in the second session. He was rewarded for a lion-hearted effort when the left-handed Latham, who had shown tremendous resilience in batting for over three hours in making a top-score of 74, lost patience to be caught behind in the second over after tea. The opener failed to reach the pitch of a delivery while trying to drive away from his body and was caught by Wriddhiman Saha.
Local boy Mohammad Shami then bowled a fiery spell, during which he got the ball to reverse swing, to wreck the Kiwi middle-order. The pacer, who finished with three for 46, first trapped Mitchell Santner in front of his stumps with a quick delivery angled into the left-hander.
Shami then sent BJ Watling's off stump cartwheeling with one that held its line as the wicketkeeper-batsman played for the swing. It had the crowd on its feet as Shami celebrated like Shoaib Akhtar -running around with both arms outstretched.
Jadeja chipped in with the wickets of inform Luke Ronchi and Matt Henry to end with figures of 3-41 from his 20 overs while India's first-innings hero Bhuvneshwar Kumar uprooted Jeetan Patel's off stump with a beauty that just nipped back enough to beat the batsman's defence.
Earlier in the day, the Indian tail added 36 runs to the overnight tally of 2278. Saha duly completed his second half-century of the match and remained unbeaten on 58, which came with the help of six boundaries.
His effort with the bat, coupled with his superb work behind the stumps, fetched Saha his maiden Man-of-the-Match award in Tests. The fact that his sterling show came in his maiden Test on home ground made it all the more special.