NEW DELHI: India suffered the ignominy of being whitewashed at home for the first time in more than 24 years by losing the third Test against New Zealand by 25 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
This is the first time that India have been whitewashed 0-3 in a home Test series and New Zealand became the first team to do so.
The Kiwis won the first Test in Bengaluru by 8 wickets and the second Test in Pune by 113 runs.
Chasing a 147-run target, India suffered a now familiar batting collapse to be tottering at 29/5, before Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja steadied the proceedings with a 42-run stand for the sixth wicket.
The day’s proceedings started with Jadeja completing his second five-wicket haul of the match as India bowled out the Kiwis for 174.
The Indian run chase got off to a horrifying start with captain Rohit Sharma falling to Matt Henry for 11 while going for a big shot.
Shubman Gill, who had scored 90 in the first innings, was the next to fall when he was clean bowled by Ajaz Patel for 1.
India batting mainstay Virat Kohli continued his poor run with the bat as he was caught by Daryl Mitchell at first slip off Ajaz Patel for 1.
The Indian batting hara-kiri continued as Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) and Sarfaraz Khan (1) fell in successive overs.
It was only Pant, who defied the Kiwis with a 48-ball half-century and alongwith Washington Sundar, took India to 92/6 at Lunch.
But in the second over after Lunch, Pant was caught bat/pad by wicket-keeper Tom Blundell off Ajaz Patel after a 57-ball 64.
The end came soon after Pant fell as India crashed to 121 all out in 29.1 overs. Ajaz Patel finished with 6/57 as the Kiwis needed only three bowlers (Matt Henry 1/10 and Glenn Philips 3/42) to win the match, series and create history.
New Zealand not only became the first team to win a Test series in India since 2012, but also the first to register a clean sweep in more than 24 years.
New Zealand’s maiden series triumph in India going back to 1955 also snapped the hosts’ home streak of 18 straight series triumphs since a 2-1 loss to England in 2012.
The writing was on the wall for India when they lost half their side inside 8 overs with just 29 runs on the board.
India were last beaten 0-2 in a two-Test series by Hansie Cronje-led South Africa in 2000.
Rohit Sharma’s side will now be feeling the heat ahead of a challenging five-match series against Australia.