Sarfaraz Khan's wait for an international hundred came to a sweet end on Saturday (October 19) as the right-handed batter slammed a 110-ball century on day four of the ongoing India vs New Zealand first Test. Sarfaraz completed his century with a boundary on the third delivery of the 57th over as he played a back foot punch through the covers off Tim Southee.
Watch how Sarfaraz Khan celebrates his maiden Test hundred:
Notably, this is just his fourth Test match appearance for Team India. Sarfaraz's innings has breathed life into India's chances of winning the Test match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. His knock has brought India within touching distance of New Zealand's first innings total and has reduced the deficit substantially.
The 26-year-old never allowed the Kiwi bowlers to dictate terms in the second innings and played a counterattacking knock. He stitched a 136-run partnership for the third wicket with the former India skipper Virat Kohli and kept the visitors on the back foot.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz has become the second India player to register a duck and a century in the same Test match against New Zealand. Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan had registered scores of 0 and 115 against the Blackcaps at Eden Park in Auckland in 2014.
This is Sarfaraz's fourth fifty-plus score in Test cricket for India. The Mumbai batter had registered scores of 62, 68* and 56 against England in Rajkot and Dharamsala during his debut series earlier this year.
India's Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand's Playing XI:
Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
