Sarfaraz Khan's maiden Test hundred reduces India's deficit

Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant put on 113 runs in the morning session of the fourth day to help India reach 344 for 3, reducing the deficit to 12 runs at lunch on Saturday (October 19). Rain ended the session early, with 105 minutes of play possible in which Sarfaraz scored his first Test ton and Pant powered through to another half-century.

Sarfaraz didn't need much time to get going and in the second over of the day he hit William O'Rourke over the slips for a couple of boundaries and then hit Matt Henry through the gully for another boundary. The boundary celebration continued in the following overs, with Pant also joining in shortly after.

The decision to test Sarfaraz with an attack outside the off-stump line didn't pay off as he used the dabs, flicks, lofts and uppercuts on the way to his century, which came with a punch-through cover good success.

Pant, who had been playing second fiddle until then, got going by pushing Tim Southee down for a six before cutting him through point-and-cover. He gave Ajaz Patel some harsher treatment by going for the left-arm spinner. He hit two sixes and a four over one and ensured the strike rate was high even as Sarfaraz had shifted to a slightly conservative approach.

It took 48 minutes into the fourth day for New Zealand to get their first win of the day as Ajaz kept Sarfaraz calm. There were few moments when New Zealand felt they had a chance. There were a few pre-match appeals and a brief moment of misunderstanding between Pant and Sarfaraz, which luckily for the hosts did not lead to drastic consequences.

Short results: India 46 and 344/3 (Sarfaraz Khan 125*, Virat Kohli 70, Risabh Pant 53*; Ajaz Patel 2-100) are 12 runs behind New Zealand 402 (Rachin Ravindra 134, Devon Conway 91; Ravindra Jadeja 3-72).