Christchurch: Ravindra Jadeja’s stunning catch was the highlight at tea on day two of the second Test here at the Hagley Oval on Sunday as India bowled New Zealand out for 235, taking a slender lead of seven runs.
After being reduced to 142/5 at lunch, Kiwi pacers Kyle Jamieson (49) and Neil Wagner (21) shared a 51-run for the ninth wicket before Jadeja took a stunning catch at deep square leg, leaping high and plucking the ball out of thin air showing extraordinary reflexes to get rid of Wagner.
The allrounder was immediately surrounded by his teammates as all of them basked in his fielding brilliance. The effort left Wagner flabbergasted too. At tea, Jadeja said he was expecting Neil Wagner to score heavily in the square leg region, but never thought the ball would come at that pace.
“I was expecting him (Wagner) to score towards deep square leg. But I didn’t expect the ball to come at that pace. It came so quickly with the wind and I just stuck my hand out. I didn’t even realise when I took the catch. We bowled well as a unit. We will look to bat well and bowl them out again,” he said.
Mohammed Shami took four wickets while Jasprit Bumrah (3/62) also doing well with the ball to tame New Zealand’s wagging tail after they had threatened to punish India at one stage with Jamieson looking particularly impressive.
Earlier on Day 1, Indian batsmen played some reckless shots to get bowled out for 242.
