There was a decent crowd in the stands to watch the first Test match played here since 2009 and the spectators must have returned home satisfied after being witness to a hard-fought battle between the bat and the ball.
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With India claiming to be in good position after the first day’s play in the opening Test, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner reckoned that his side was not in a bad position either, considering the kind of start the home team got.
India, playing their landmark 500th Test in front of an august gathering that included greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, closed an intriguing day’s play at 9-291.
It wasn’t helping that New Zealand’s spinners had shown that they were not versatile enough to be threatening on a surface that wasn’t yet doing much for them.
But the tourists earned plaudits for throwing conventional wisdom to the wind in their bid to improve a dismal record in India where they have won just two Tests, the last in 1988. The spin trio of Mitchell Santner (3/77), Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi troubled the Indian top and middle-order, before Trent Boult (3/57) rocked the Indian tail with the second new ball. The man Santner got his chance to represent New Zealand once Daniel Vettori chose to retire from the game. He brought Santner on in the ninth over, Craig came on in the 14th and Sodhi entered proceedings shortly before lunch, in the 25th over.
However, it was a soft dismissal that led Pujara (caught and bowled off Santner) to the dugout and started India’s downfall. Both Pujara and Vijay got their half-centuries but Santner soon struck again, with Pujara tamely giving a return catch to him.
Talking about the crucial moment that tilted the scale in New Zealand’s favour, Santner said while India captain Virat Kohli was a key wicket, it was important to dismiss others too. “291/9, not too bad”, he said.
“There’s a lot of cricket to be played still”. “They did start well and we were extremely lucky to have pulled back things at the end of the day’s play”. We need to built little partnerships and not think about playing the fourth innings here. I guess you just have to do it for a longer period of time and then go from there.
– Mohammad Shami’s first duck vs New Zealand is his fifth in Tests. He has been itching to dominate a touring side with the bat.
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After winning the toss and electing to bat, regularly seen to be a death blow for the opposition on the sub-continent, India have put themselves in a solid position, but will be disappointed not to have more runs on the board. “What we have got to do now is go out there and put pressure on the batsmen”.
