Hyderabad:India suffered their second consecutive defeat at the hands of New Zealand and lost the three-match series 2-0 with a game to go.
The Black Caps under their new captain Tom Latham dominated both the Test matches from the word go and never let the hosts make a comeback at any point of the game, having defeated them by eight wickets and 113 runs respectively.
Set a daunting target of 359 in the fourth innings, Men in Blue looked to be in with a shout after a brisk knock from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. But, wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter to condemn the team to its fourth loss of this World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
India continued to maintain the top spot in the WTC standings despite the loss, with a PCT of 62.82. India needs to win at least four more games in the remaining six Tests to qualify for the WTC final, scheduled to be held in Lords next year. Otherwise, they have to pray for the other results to come in their favour.
New Zealand climbed up to fourth place after its win.
Pakistan climbed up to seventh spot after they thrashed England by nine wickets in the third Test in Rawalpindi, sealing the three-match series 2-1. It was their first-ever Test series win at home after nearly four years. The last time they won a Test series at home was against South Africa where they defeated the Proteas 2-0.
Australia are comfortably placed second in the points table with 62.500 PCT while Sri Lanka is in the third spot with 56.560. New Zealand also stayed at the fourth spot despite the series win with 50.000 PCT.
