Kanpur: India wasted an early advantage and stumbled to 291/9 after Virat Kohli elected to bat in the first Test against New Zealand, at the Green Park in Kapur on Thursday.
Playing in their 500th Test, India were in commanding position going in to the lunch break. However, the Kane Williamson-led unit made a solid comeback, scalping three batsmen – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay – as India failed to cash in.
New Zealand consolidated their position after Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin could not prolong their stay in the middle and got out on 35 and 40, respectively. India will commence day two with a hope that the pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav stretch the team’s total to 350.
India 291/9 from 90 overs:
Stumps on Day 1: Umesh Yadav manages to negotiate the last few deliveries by Boult, as India still have hopes of making it to the 300-run mark, in their first innings. KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, and Cheteshwar Pujara had gotten India off to a great start. However, The Kiwis fought back from the second session, and their hard work after lunch has clearly earned them a good result after the end of the day's play.
India 281/9 from 87 overs:
WICKET! The Indian wickets are tumbling one after the other. Boult picks up his third wicket of the innings. A slower delivery beats Md Shami (0) all ends up, as the ball goes on to hit the stumps.
India 273/8 from 86 overs:
WICKET! A brilliant delivery by Boult gets Ashwin out. He pitched the ball just short of good length. the line was just close enough to make the India allrounder probe at it. However, he edged it straight to Ross Taylor at gully.
India 263/7 from 84 overs:
WICKET! Trent Boult makes a further inroad into the Indian batting lineup, as he knocks over Wriddhiman Saha's (0) stumps. Saha missed the good length in-swinger, which sneaked through the gap between his bat and pad.
India 261/6 from 83 overs:
WICKET! A very soft dismissal for Rohit Sharma (35). Tried to chip a Santner delivery towards midwicket, but mis-times his shot, and sends it straight to Sodhi, who takes an easy catch at mid-on. Santner breaks this important partnership of 52 runs, between Rohit and Ashwin.
India 209/5 from 59 overs:
WICKET! India look like they are in deep trouble, now. Craig dismisses Rahane for just 18 (36). Rahane misjudges the flight of the ball, as it takes an inside edge off his bat, hits his pads, and pops up to Latham, who gleefully takes a smart catch at forward shortleg.
India 185/4 from 59 overs:
WICKET! Ish Sodhi has given New Zealand a big boost as he dismisses Murali Vijay in the final over before tea. What a breakthrough this for the Kiwis! Vijay had looked in a serene touch during his 65-run knock. India will bank on Rahane and Rohit before Saha, Ashwin and bowlers come into play.
India 168/3 from 52 overs:
WICKET! Wagner gets the big wicket for the Kiwis! Virat Kohli departs for just 9 (10). The pacer clearly had a plan to make Kohli hoock the ball, as he banged it in short, bowling over the wicket. The ball caught the top edge of Kohli's bat, and flew towards Sodhi at long leg.
India 158/2 from 50 overs:
WICKET! Cheteshwar Pujara perishes for 62 (109). The Kanpur pitch already seems to be playing tricks from the first day itself. Attempting to drive a full, wide delivery by Santner, Pujara edged the ball to the New Zealand bowler, who did well to hold on to the catch. Captain Virat Kohli comes out to bat.
India 137/1 from 42 overs:
Cheteshwar Pujara also Completes his brisk fifty, as he strokes a low fulltoss by Ish Sodhi, for a single. This is the 8th half century of his Test career.
India 133/1 from 40 overs:
Half century for Murali Vijay! He brings up his 13th 50 in Test cricket, as he strokes the ball to mid-off for a single off the final ball of Boult's over.
India 105/1 from 31 overs:
Lunch interval!
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have done well to keep New Zealand at bay as players go in for lunch with India scoring 105 runs in the first session.
India 89/1 from 26 overs:
Vijay and Pujara are doing a fine job to keep India's run-rate ticking. While Santner and Mark Craig managed to control the run flow, the Indian duo has managed to break the shackles as the hometeam nears the 100-run mark.
India 50/1 from 14 overs:
India have lost KL Rahul after a fluent start. Quicker delivery from Santner and Watling has held onto a brilliant catch. The Indian opener scored 32 off 39 balls. Cheteshwar Pujara has joined Murali Vijay in the middle.
Lokesh Rahul Wicket https://t.co/30nrBj4umy #BCCI #500thTest #INDvNZ
— DC Sports (@_DCSports) September 22, 2016
India 22/0 from 7 overs:
Both KL Rahul and Murali Vijay have gotten off to a good start, taking the score to 22/0 in seven overs. The India openers seem to be taking a two-pronged approach to the game. While Vijay (2) is playing the sheet-anchor role, Rahul (20 is taking the attack to the NZ bowlers.
New Zealand, who are better known for their pace attack, have surprisingly named three spinners – Mark Craig, Ish Sodhi, and Michell Santner – in their starting lineup. However, their ace fast bowler Tim Southee has been left out of the XI due to injury.
On the flip side, India have gone for a deep batting lineup, with nine recognised batsmen in the team. However, Kohli is set to miss out on the services of his most experienced paceman Ishant Sharma, who is out injured.
Lineups:
New Zealand XI: Latham, Guptill, Williamson, Taylor, Ronchi, Santner, Walting, Craig, Sodhi, Boult, Wagner.
India XI: Vijay Rahul, Pujara Kohli, Rahane, Sharma, Ashwin, Saha, Jadeja, Shami, Yadav.
Preview:
India are all set to take to the crease in their 500th Test match, after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first, against New Zealand, in the first game of the three-match series at the Green Park in Kanpur, on Thursday.
This is the start of a long home season for Kohli and his men, who are set to play 13 Test matches, with teams like England, Australia, and Bangladesh also schedulet to travel to the subcontinent, later this year.
