There is a reason why Trent Boult has been instrumental to the New Zealand bowling attack, and that reason was made apparent during the second Test match against India. The 30-year old pace attacker is ruffling many Indian feathers with his antics on the field in the current match at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. In the previous Test match, held at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the left-hander picked five wickets, including a four-wicket haul in the second innings.
The hosts won against the visitors by 10 wickets in the first match, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Even in the second Test match, India has been seen struggling as Boult has come in firing on all cylinders. In the first innings itself, Boult churned out the wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Shami. But it’s in the second innings that he has managed to put his best foot forward.
After getting bowled out for 235, the Kiwis had a lead of only seven runs. The expectations of the team fell on Boult, and he delivered on all fronts. In his very first over, Boult accounted for Agarwal’s wicket for the second time in the match. However, the deliveries he bowled to Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav seemed to have stood out.
At the end of the second day, Boult delivered a full ball to Pujara knocked out his stumps. It was an important wicket as Pujara was in good form after coming off a half-century in the first innings.
After Pujara’s dismissal, Umesh Yadav joined Hanuma Vihari in the pitch. Boult’s ball snuck between his bat and pad, hitting his wicket. Boult finished with a spell of 9-3-12-3.
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India finished the day with a score of 90 for six in 36 overs, leading with 97 runs. Boult will be looking to add to his final wickets and bowl out the rest of the Indian batting lineup in the first session of the third day’s play.
