Santner's 13 wickets lead New Zealand to a first test series win in India

PUNE, India (AP) — Mitchell Santner's career-best haul of 13 wickets spearheaded New Zealand to its first test series triumph in India on Saturday.

India was set an unlikely 359 to win the second test and was bowled out for 245 after tea to lose by 113 runs inside three days.

Clinching the series with a test to spare sent the New Zealanders into a celebratory group hug in the middle of Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

“For us to do it for the first time in history, it is very hard to describe this,” allrounder Glenn Phillips said. "It is long graft and grind."

New Zealand ended India's record run of 18 consecutive home test series victories dating to 2012.

The Black Caps capped an extraordinary week for New Zealand cricket. The women's team won their first T20 World Cup in Dubai last Sunday, the same day the men won their first test in India in 36 years.

Both were surprising.

The men came to India after losing the series in Sri Lanka, with a new captains, and without their best batter, Kane Williamson.

Also, Santner’s test place was criticized, but he produced the third best bowling figures for a New Zealander in a men's test with his 13-157 in Pune, after Richard Hadlee's 15 against Australia in 1985 and Ajaz Patel's 14 against India in 2021.

Following his 7-53 in the first innings — his maiden test five-for — Santner claimed 6-104 in the second while enduring side soreness. He dismissed Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin and ran out Rishabh Pant.

“I feel a little sore (after bowling unchanged from one end), but you have to keep going,” Santner said. “Every time I got a wicket, it felt better. I just tried to land the ball in the same spot with little changes in pace.”

New Zealand has toured India since 1955 and managed to win only two tests before this series, in 1969 and 1988.

“We are proud to be in this position. It is a really special feeling and a whole team effort,” Latham said. “Putting runs on the board at the start was really important. Santner was fantastic. We have had to adapt to different surfaces and we did that very well. The last two wickets took an age, but we were really happy when it happened.”

New Zealand started the day 301 runs ahead and could add only 58 more runs before it was all out for 255.

Off-spinner Washington Sundar took 4-56 in the innings and 11-115 in the match.

India reached 81-1 by lunch after losing captain Sharma, caught at short leg on 8.

Jaiswal and Gill were attacking, and India looked comfortable as they shared 62 in 10 overs for the second wicket.

Santner separated them in the 16th over — Gill was caught at slip for 23.

There was another short partnership — 31 runs — between Jaiswal and Kohli, before Santner dealt another crushing blow. Jaiswal was caught at slip for 77 off 65 balls, after hitting nine fours and three sixes.

Pant was then run out for a duck, and when Kohli was trapped for 17 at 147-5, the crowd of nearly 29,000 knew the writing was on the wall.

India slipped to 167-7 as Santner ran through the batting card.

Jadeja resisted with a late 42, the second best score of the innings.

“It is not what we expected,” Sharma said. “New Zealand played better than us. We failed to capitalize on certain moments and didn't bat well enough to get runs on the board. You have to take 20 wickets to win a test, but batters have to put runs on the board.”

The third test begins in Mumbai on Friday.

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New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, third from left, celebrates the dismissal of India's Virat Kohli with his team mates during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner bowls a delivery during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, third from left, celebrates the dismissal of India's Ravichandran Ashwin with his team mates during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner bowls a delivery during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, left, and New Zealand's captain Tom Latham celebrates the dismissal of India's Sarfaraz Khan during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, left, and New Zealand's captain Tom Latham celebrates the dismissal of India's Virat Kohli during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner , centre, celebrates the dismissal of India's captain Rohit Sharma with his team mates during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's captain Rohit walks off the field after losing his wicket during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner ,second from right, celebrates the dismissal of India's captain Rohit Sharma with his team mates during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Shubman Gill plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three children and two high-ranking officers in the Hamas-run police force, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.

One strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

Another strike killed at least eight Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip. The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, who say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.

The war was sparked by Hamas-led militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 that day. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid in Syria last September in which it says dozens of commandos destroyed a top-secret Iranian-led missile factory.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Iran, working with its Syrian and the Hezbollah allies, planned to build hundreds of precision guided missiles per year at the factory that could be transferred to Lebanon. He said the facility was located in western Syria around the town of Masyaf near the Lebanese border.

He said Israel had been monitoring the underground facility for several years, but decided to strike at a time when Israel was at war with Hezbollah and the factory was becoming operational.

“This facility posed a clear threat to the state of Israel and this is why we had to take action,” he said.

Shoshani said over 100 special force soldiers took part in the Sept. 8 raid, backed by dozens of aircraft. Calling it one of Israel’s most complex operations in years, he said soldiers arrived by helicopter and entered the facility, which he said was dug deep into the side of a mountain.

In bodycam footage released by the Israeli military, special forces are seen moving through wide underground hallways and seizing documents, before a large explosion destroys the site. The video, which could not be independently verified, also showed images of what the army said was missile-manufacturing equipment.

At the time, Syrian state media reported four deaths from a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area. Shoshani said there were no Israeli casualties, and that Israel also damaged another missile-production facility in Lebanon during the war.

Israel and Hezbollah reached a cease-fire in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Thursday after recovering from prostate surgery Sunday.

Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital said Netanyahu was recuperating satisfactorily, although he still has a period of recovery ahead. Medical follow-ups will continue as usual, according to a hospital statement.

Despite doctor’s orders to remain hospitalized, the 75-year-old leader had briefly left the facility to participate in a vote in Israel’s parliament on Tuesday.

KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s president says his country is poised to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad and sharply increase agricultural exports to Lebanon despite being engaged in an almost three-year war with Russia.

The developments came after a recent visit to those countries by Ukraine’s top diplomat and its government minister for farming, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Ukraine is aiming to build up its security and trade relations in the Middle East, he said.

Ukraine and Syria are assessing cooperation within international organizations, and Syria could this year become a “reliable partner” for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian officials met with Syria’s new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The insurgents had ousted Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early December.

Ukrainian agricultural exports to Lebanon are around $400 million a year but Zelenskyy said he hopes to at least double that.

Ukraine is a leading world producer of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other food products.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.

The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.

Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.

The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.

The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

DAMASCUS, Syria — The forces together with armed vehicles were deployed in the city of Homs Thursday to look for the militants affiliated with ousted President Bashar Assad, state media reported.

SANA, citing a military official, said that the new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had set up centers in Syria’s third-largest city for former soldiers and militants to hand over their weapons, similar to other parts of Syria.

In early December, a lightning insurgency took out the decades-long rule of Assad in less than two weeks. HTS has since run much of war-torn Syria under the authority of its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Officials who were part of Assad's notorious web of intelligence and security apparatus have been arrested over the past few weeks.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: An Israeli strike has killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip.

The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior officers in the Hamas-run police.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel has repeatedly targeted the police, contributing to a breakdown of law and order in the territory that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Al Jazeera has condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to bar it from operating in the occupied West Bank, saying the decision was “in line” with similar actions taken by Israel.

In a statement Thursday, the Qatar-based broadcaster accused the Western-backed authority of seeking to “hide the truth about events in the occupied territories, especially what is happening in Jenin and its camps.”

The Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israel on security matters, launched a rare crackdown on anti-Israel militants in the urban Jenin refugee camp last month. The authority has international support but is unpopular among many Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian Authority announced the suspension of Al Jazeera’s activities on Wednesday, accusing it of incitement and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel banned Al Jazeera last year, accusing it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas. Israeli strikes have killed or wounded several Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza, and Israel has accused some of them of being militants. Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s West Bank headquarters last year, but the broadcaster has continued to operate in the territory.

Al Jazeera denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its coverage. Its 24-hour reporting from Gaza has focused on the deaths of Palestinian civilians. It has also broadcast Hamas and other militant videos in their entirety, showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.

Palestinian children play next to a building destroyed by Israeli army strikes in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers stand in a bullet-ridden house during a tour for army personnel to observe the damage caused by the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

An Israeli soldier jumps off an armoured vehicle at a staging area near the Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians prepare the body for the funeral of a man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man reacts in grief as the body of 8-year-old Adam Farajallah is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an airstrike on a house in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man mourns over the body of a Palestinian man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian girls collect donated food at a food distribution center in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier covers his ears as an artillery gunner fires into the Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A destroyed part of Gaza City as seen from southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians inspect the site of an earlier Israeli army strike in the Muwasi area, in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. According to Palestinian medical officials, the airstrike killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior police officers, in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)