Career-best Test figures of 7-53 for Mitchell Santner! His maiden Test 7-wicket bag and the third best Test figures by a New Zealander against India 🤝 #INDvNZ 📸 BCCI
In a magical spell, New Zeal and’s all-rounder Mitchell Santner achieved his career-best figures of 7/53 during the second Test against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. This performance from Santner came after missing the first match against India. New Zealand opted to go with three pacers in the Bengaluru test. However, a glute injury forced New Zealand to make changes in the XI, and they bringed Mitchell Santner, who took his career best seven wickets.
His remarkable performance helped dismiss the Indian side for just 156 runs, putting India on the back foot, after New Zealand scored 259 in their first innings.
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We have seen a similar story with Washington Sundar in the first innings, where a spinner who was left out of the squad was called back and delivered his career best. The same can be said for Santner, who was added to the XI in the second match and made a significant impact in the game.
Resuming Day 2 at 16/1, India had hoped to build a solid partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill which collected 91 runs together. But soon they quickly fell apart against Santner’s unplayable spin. The Indian batting lineup collapsed post-lunch, Santner being the most valuable player for New Zealand. He took crucial wickets, including that of Shubman Gill, highest run scorer on MCA, Virat Kohli, last match centurion Sarfaraz Khan and few more.
Mitchell Santner
Mitchell Santner is now on the third spot in the historic record book of Best Figures for New Zealand vs India in Tests.
Best Figures for NZ vs India in Tests
Bowler
Figures
Location
Year
Ajaz Patel
10/119
Wankhede
2021
Richard Hadlee
7/23
Wellington
1976
Mitchell Santner
7/53
Pune
2024*
Tim Southee
7/64
Bengaluru
2012
Simon Doull
7/65
Wellington
1998
Santner’s spell was historic, marking his maiden Test five-wicket haul and making him only the third New Zealand bowler to achieve such figures against India. Following this remarkable performance, the Black Caps established a significant 103-run lead. India needs a solid performance with the ball to restrict New Zealand to under 200 runs, which is essential if they hope to chase on a spinning track. A loss here for India will jeopardize their standing in the World Test Championship points table.
