On a crumbling pitch, on the third day, against the bouncing Kiwis, India suffered a humiliating defeat by 113 runs. After the debacle in the first Test in Bengaluru, where New Zealand pacers inflicted the pain, it was the spin magic of Mitchell Santner that led to India's undoing in the second Test in Pune. The visitors have won the series 2-0, becoming the first side in 12 years to topple India in a Test series here. This was New Zealand's first Test series win in India.
Indian batting never seemed secure in pursuit of a massive target of 359. Skipper Rohit Sharma's dismissal, deceived by the bounce while trying to defend Santner was the start of a debacle that persisted.
At lunch, India were 81/1, trailing by 278, with Yashasvi Jaiswal on 46 and Shubman Gill on 22. Post-lunch, everything went downhill. Gill fell (for 23), to a thick edge, again off Santner. Jaiswal (77) looked promising, but followed suit, edging to first slip off Santner. After Rishabh Pant was run out, Virat Kohli (17) offered some resistance before falling to the trickery of New Zealand's left-arm spin magician. Sarfaraz could not replicate his heroics from Bengaluru and perished for nine. His wicket, bowled to one tossed up, gave Santner a second five-wicket haul in the match.
At tea, India were 178/7. But there was never any hope of a recovery and Ravindra Jadeja (42) thought he could at least get to a fifty but perished in the deep after stepping out to Ajaz Patel. That was the last wicket to fall and India surrendered a home Test series for the first time since 2012.
Earlier, Gill and Jaiswal had adopted an interesting strategy of going on the offensive, and perhaps the only reasonable one, given the circumstances. In every over since the fall of the skipper, the Indian duo hit at least a boundary. Jaiswal stepped down the track to hit a six before Gill slapped one behind point for a boundary off Santner. Jaiswal then charged down Glenn Phillips to clear extra cover with another six to get closer to his fifty before the teams set out for lunch.
The only happiness India had in the day was in the first hour when spinners stopped the visitors from amassing a 400-plus target. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/97) and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3/72) shared the spoils as India dismissed the Kiwis for 255. The visitors had resumed their innings at 198/5 but lost five wickets for just 57 runs in an hour in the first session.
Brief scores: New Zealand 259 & 255 in 69.4 overs (Tom Latham 86, Glenn Phillips 48 not out, Tom Blundell 41, Washington Sundar 4/56, Ravindra Jadeja 3/72, Ravi Ashwin 2/97) bt India 156 & 245 in 60.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77, Ravindra Jadeja 42, Mitchell Santner 6/104, Ajaz Patel 2/43)