Kyle Jamieson
When New Zealand's new-ball pair was left frustrated by the small adjustment made by the Indian openers for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, young Kyle Jamieson provided the breakthrough. When New Zealand were in dire need of a comeback at the start of the third morning under the gloomy Southampton sky, it was Jamieson who plotted Virat Kohli's departure with a rare jaffa that nipped back sharply leaving the Indian skipper befuddled. Three hours later, New Zealand walked back to the pavilion with all smiles after bundling the mighty Indians for just 217 with Jamieson soaking in the appreciation from the crowd.
Taking out Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in successive deliveries after lunch helped him bag his five-wicket haul, only his fifth in an eight-Test career, all of which have come during the course of this World Test Championship, putting him above Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel on the elusive list.
India had begun the day on 146 for three with Kohli on 44 and Rahane on 29. The Indian skipper's well-composed knock on Day 2, with a control percentage of 93, left New Zealand waiting for their next big wicket, while raising hopes of a much-awaited 71st international century. But it was his IPL teammate that plotted his dismissal. According to the HawkEye projection showed on the screen, only seven of his 94 deliveries had hit the stumps, the seventh one dismissed Kohli, the fuller one that shaped back in sharply towards the leg. Kohli walked back without adding another score to his overnight figure and thus begun India's downfall.
Another small change that Jamieson made on Sunday morning resulted in Rishabh Pant's dismissal a few overs later. He went around the wicket to Pant and angled the deliveries down to the leg and then went over the wicket to change the angle, but still targetting the leg stump which resulted in an lbw appeal. But it was the variation that brought about the wicket - the wide temper - the widest he bowled in the innings and a shackled Pant poked it straight to the fielder at slip.
Jamieson now has 41 wickets in the WTC tournament in seven Tests, the second-most by a New Zealand bowler after Tim Southee's 52 which came in 11 matches. His average of 12.41 and strike rate of 32.5 is now the best for any bowler who has at least played 5 Tests in the tournament.
The two wickets, combined with Neil Wagner's impressive short-ball set-up for Ajinkya Rahane left India wounded at the stroke of lunch with 211 for seven on board.
India added only six more in the second session before Ravindra Jadeja edged one down the leg side to end the innings.
