Bright skies for New Zealand, but cloudy and overcast for India. The weather conditions reflected the performances of both teams as New Zealand bowled India out for their lowest-ever home Test total of 46. Rarely does a visiting team dominate like this, but conditions in India were unusual, with the pitch covered for two days. New Zealand adapted, picking three pacers to exploit the seam-friendly surface, while India misread the conditions, opting for three spinners and choosing to bat first.

New Zealand Capitalizes as India Misread Conditions

From the first session, India’s decisions seemed off. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tried to counter the seam movement by advancing down the pitch, while Yashasvi Jaiswal opted to play on merit. None of these approaches worked, and the New Zealand bowlers exploited every opportunity. Tim Southee’s sharp inswingers, Will O’Rourke’s awkward bounce, and Matt Henry’s disciplined off-stump line saw India’s top order crumble to 10/3.

Lowest score in home conditions:

Despite the presence of in-form batters and a lower-order that had rescued India before, there was no recovery today. Recent victories, such as the top-order collapse against Bangladesh in Chennai, could not be replicated on this seam-friendly pitch. India had misread the conditions, and the decision to bat first on a pitch that had been under covers for two days proved fatal.

Rohit Sharma Admits India Misread Conditions

Rohit Sharma acknowledged the mistake: “It hurts,” he said at the end of the day. Reflecting on India’s misjudgment, he candidly admitted, “Obviously, I did not read the pitch well enough. We sit in that situation today.” India’s decision to pick three spinners and bat first was a gamble that backfired, allowing New Zealand to take complete control of the match.