India recovered from the early dismissal of opener Lokesh Rahul to post 105/1 at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand here on Thursday.
Advertisement
Skipper Virat Kohli maintained his solid reputation for winning test tosses in India and, on a pitch already taking turn, his batsmen hunkered down to lay a platform for the coming days. The hosts are playing with six batsmen, two fast bowlers and two spinners while the visiting New Zealand are playing with three spinners and two fast bowlers.
As expected, New Zealand picked three spinners, with both pace-bowling slots going to left-armers in Trent Boult and Neil Wagner.
Murali Vijay is on 39 and Cheteshwar Pujara is on 34.
Pujara is averaging 109.5 in first-class matches this year and came into the test on the back of a double century. However, he was then the victim of Mitchell Santner in 11th over with India’s score reading 42 for one.
New Zealand’s leg-spinner Ish Sodhi also played a key role, claiming the wicket of Vijay, who had notched up his 13th Test fifty, just before the tea break.
After losing Rahul’s wicket, Vijay and Pujara batted with determination.
Advertisement
On Monday, New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson had announced that all-rounder James Neesham would miss the Kanpur Test, due to a rib injury he had suffered during a net session.
