Ravindra Jadeja broke into the top five Indians to take most wickets in Test cricket after the left-arm spinner picked up 5/65 on Day 1 of the ongoing third and final Test against New Zealand on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Coming into this Test match with 3-9 wickets in his kitty, Jadeja dismissed Will Young, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi to rise to the fifth position in the list of most Indian wicket-takers in Tests.
Legendary Anil Kumble (619), Ravichandran Ashwin (533), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417) are ahead of Jadeja. Earlier in the day, pacer Akash Deep (1/22) struck early to dismiss opener Devon Conway for just 4 after New Zealand chose to bat.
Washington Sundar then added to India's early breakthroughs, claiming two key wickets in the first session to put New Zealand on the back foot. Although Daryl Mitchell and Will Young staged a comeback with a 87-run stand for the fourth wicket, it was Jadeja who did most of the damage.
While Jadeja picked up his 14th five-wicket haul, young off-spinner Sundar bagged 4/81 as the visitors were bowled out in 65.4 overs. Jadeja first broke the defiance of Young, who scored a well-made 71 off 138 balls, before dismissing Tom Blundell for a duck just two balls later.
Before the tea interval, Jadeja also bowled Glenn Phillips for 17. Mitchell was New Zealand's top-scorer with 81. New Zealand lead the series 2-0. Earlier in the previous two Tests, Jadeja looked off colour.
The off-spinner took six wickets in total which India lost on both occasions. While the hosts lost by eight wickets in Bengaluru, Rohit Sharma's men ensured a 113-run loss in Pune.
India will next fly to Australia for five Test matches later this month.
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