2nd Test, Day 1 - Ishant Sharma bowls his heart out against New Zealand at Wellington

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

Wellington: Ishant Sharma, who was recently axed by the Indian selectors for the upcoming Asia Cup and World Twenty20, created havoc in the New Zealand camp on the first day of the second and final Test on Friday. After winning the toss, India skipper MS Dhoni yet again elected to bowl first. Ishant was introduced into the attack as the first change bowler in the eighth over of the innings, after Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami failed to make any significant impact with the new ball. The lanky pacer was right on the money and provided India their first breakthrough in his second over by getting the better of New Zealand opener Hamish Rutherford. In his next over, Ishant dismissed the other opener as well, when Peter Fulton got trapped in front of the wicket. Ishant was on a roll, as the Delhi bowler then bowled a beauty to get the outside edge of Tom Latham`s bat, who left the field without scoring a run. Later, at one stage when Corey Anderson was looking dangerous at 24, Ishant produce another breakthrough for India by scalping his fourth wicket of the day. Dangerous looking Ishant didn`t stop there and after a gap of one over, made BJ Watling his next victim, who got out for a fourth-ball duck. With Watling`s wicket, Ishant completed his five-wicket haul in the match. At the end, he also got the better of tail-ender Tim Southee to finish with career best figures of 51 for six in seventeen overs. As a result of his fine bowling, India bowled out the entire New Zealand side on mere 192 runs. Interestingly, Ishant and Mohammed Shami shared all the ten wickets between them, as Shami scalped the remaining four wickets.