'Magical' Ashwin's Test best ensures India 'brownwash' New Zealand

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara celebrates after scoring a century during the fourth day of third Test against New Zealand Pic PTIIndoreRavichandran Ashwin mesmerised theNew Zealand batsmen with another magical spell of spin bowlingas India completed a 30 brownwash of the visitors by winningthe third and final Test by a whopping 321 runs here todayChasing an improbable 475run target Ashwin rippedthrough the brittle New Zealand batting lineup with asensational spell of 7 for 59 to skittle the opposition for apaltry 153 in 445 overs with an entire day to spare at theHolkar Stadium which hosted its first ever TestThe 30yearold finished with a match haul of 13 for 140and ended the series with a bagful of 27 wickets to emerge asthe standout performer in a thoroughly one sided series whichhelped India to regain number one position in TestsEarlier resuming at 18 for no loss the hosts rode onCheteshwar Pujaras unbeaten 101 his eighth Test ton and anaggressive 50 by comeback man Gautam Gambhir before declaringtheir second innings at 216 for three an hour before the teabreakThere was hardly any resistance from the Kiwi batsmen asAshwin scalped one wicket after another to demolish theopposition in just about three hours of play much to thedelight of a near capacity Dussehra crowdThe pitch in this match did not turn as much as it did inthe earlier two games but still New Zealand batsmen lookedclueless against the Indian spinnersIndian coach Anil Kumble and his entire staff erupted injoy in the dressing room as Ashwin fittingly took the lastwicket with a return catch of Trent Boult triggering wildcelebrations on the field as well It was also Kumbles firstseries win at home after the success in the West IndiesThe focus will now shift to the five match ODI seriesbeginning at Dharamsala from October 16 with Mahendra SinghDhoni taking over the reins of the team from KohliSuch was the dominance of the Indian spinners that Ashwinand Jadeja accounted for 41 out of 60 New Zealand wickets inthe seriesRavichandran Ashwin 2L celebrates with captain Virat Kohli R and other teammates after taking wicket the of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson during the fourth day of the third Test match between India and New Zealand at The Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Tuesday PicAFPIt was also Ashwins sixth tenwicket haul in 39 Testsand his second innings figures bettered his earlier 7 for 66heistLike in the first innings Left arm spinner RavindraJadeja provided the ideal foil to the off spinner by takingtwo wicketsFor New Zealand Martin Guptill 29 captain KaneWilliamson 27 senior batsman Ross Taylor 32 and wicketkeeper BJ Watling 23 not out were the main scorers as Ashwinran through their batting orderIndia had won the opening and second Tests at Kanpur andKolkata by 197 and 178 runs respectively and completed theirtotal domination of New Zealand at this venue by winning it bythe biggest margin in the rubberThe 30 series triumph was the third for India in their last four home rubbers the earlier ones achieved against Australia and West Indies and stretched their enviable winning Test record at home to 12 out of 13 encounters including the 30 rout of South Africa last seasonIn the morning pushed firmly on the backfoot whenIndia took a huge first innings lead of 258 runs yesterdayNew Zealand allowed the home team to score quickly by ridingon Pujaras unbeaten 101 in 148 balls and set them a dauntingtask on a wearing trackAshwin who claimed 6 for 81 in New Zealandiquests firstinnings bagged the wickets of rival captain Kane Williamson27 for the fourth time in the series Ross Taylor 32 both of who tried to hit their way out of trouble against thewily spinner and Luke Ronchi for a duck after opener TomLatham had been trapped in front by Umesh Yadav He added the wickets of Mitchell Santner Jeetan Pateland Matt Henry in his second spell the last two in one over as the Kiwis added just two runs and then came back for his third spell to break the last wicket stand between wicketkeeper Watling and Boult by accepting the return catch of the last man to terminate the innings and matchIn between Jadeja accounted for opener Guptill and allrounder James NeeshamWilliamson who went after Ashwin by hitting the offspinner for a few onside fours was trapped on the back footas he played across while the outofform Taylor too decidedto attack the Indian spinner succeeded for a while before hetoo was beaten and bowled by a ripper that turned in fromoutside offLefthanded Ronchi lasted 18 balls before he was cleanedup by a sharply turning ball to give Ashwin his ninth wicketof the matchThe triple strike by Ashwin after Yadaviquests early sendoffof Latham left the visitors who had lost the first two gamesof the series by huge run margins staggering at 102 for 4While Ashwin was doing the damage from the pavilionend from where he grabbed all six wickets in the firstinnings Jadeja kept a tight rein at the other end before hepacked off wellset opener Martin Guptill 29 and JamesNeesham who lasted just four balls in successive overs topush the Kiwis on the brink of defeatGuptill who top scored for the Kiwis with 72 in thefirst essay was caught in front by Jadeja with a ball thatslid through straight to breach his defensive bat whileNeesham the other plus70 scorer in the New Zealand firstinnings flicked straight to India skipper Virat Kohli atshort midwicketIn a matter of just seven overs New Zealand had lostfour wickets to be gasping at 112 for 6Ashwin was taken off while New Zealand progressed to136 when he returned to bamboozle and pack off Santner Pateland Henry in the space of six balls to push the visitors tothe edge at 138 for 9 before adding the scalp of BoultEarlier in the day Pujara continued his superb formwith the bat to notch up his maiden hundred of the series asIndia declared their second innings closed with four and halfsessions left to force yet another thumping victoryIndia applied the closure soon after Pujara struckJames Neesham for his ninth four to reach his 8th careercentury in 147 balls in his 38th gameThe other major contributor in the home teamiquests secondinnings was opener Gautam Gambhir who made 50 in 56 ballswith 6 fours after he resumed his interrupted innings ofyesterday due to injury at the fall of opener Murali VijayGambhir who made 29 on his comeback innings earlier inthe match thus compiled his careeriquests 22nd half century in his57th Test which was his first in four years following his 60in the first innings of the Kolkata Test against England in2012After a relatively slow first session India pressed onthe accelerator in the postlunch period and lost Kohlitrapped in front while attempting a sweep shot off Patel inthe process after he and Pujara had put on 48 runs in 60 ballsfor the third wicketPujara who surpassed 350 runs in the series during hisknock and Rahane then stitched an unbroken stand of 58 runsin 54 balls before the declaration came India added 89 runsin 15 overs after lunch before the hosts set the visitors thesteep targetThe century was the first for Pujara after 9 Testmatches his previous one 145 not out coming in the third and final Colombo Test against Sri Lanka last August that paved the way for Indiaiquests 21 series victoryHis scores in this series read 62 78 87 4 and 41before todays innings in the series after having notched up adouble hundred and a hundred in the Duleep Trophy in therunup to the international home seasonThe century here was Pujaras sixth at home and secondagainst the same opposition after his 159 at Hyderabad hisfirst Test hundred in 2012Captain Kohli who made a careerbest 211 in the firstinnings was dismissed for 17 while the other first inningscenturion Rahane remained unbeaten on 23 to add to theexcellent 188 he made in the first inningsJeetan Patel picked up 2 for 56 while Murali Vijay wasrun out for 19UltimatelyAshwin with careerbest match figures of 13140 helped India skittle out the visitors in under two sessions of play