Resuming on 291 for nine, Jadeja finished with an unbeaten 42 at nearly a run a ball as he and Umesh Yadav took their last-wicket stand to 41 and the total beyond 300.
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Williamson (65no) and Latham (56no) took the tourists to 152 for one at tea, in reply to India’s 318 all out.
New Zealand’s Trent Boult celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of India’s Mohammed Shami.
Realising and respecting the conditions, the tourists picked three spinners – Craig Mark, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi – in their starting line-up. We were lucky to have got a few wickets here and there to pull it back.
Indian score was 105/1 with Murali Vijay’s 39 off 89 balls and Cheteshwar Pujara 34 off 58 balls at 31 overs before lunch break at 11.30am. That’s the big gamble the New Zealanders have taken, by including five bowlers and two wicket-keepers in BJ Watling and Luke Ronchi, with the latter playing as a batsman. His innings was studded with four boundaries and a six.
Both the batsmen looked in sublime form as they played some elegant strokes, much to the dismay of the local fans. While Jadeja managed to score 42 and remained not out, and was able to take the Indian innings past the 300-run mark, yet Yadav was dismissed for 9. While Vijay completed his 50 in the 40th over, Pujara caught up with him in the next.
“That’s his area”, said Vijay.
Friday is likely to be all about the Indian bowlers, unless of course the last wicket pair of Jadeja and Umesh Yadav last long enough for an outstanding partnership. “It’s a lesson learnt and hopefully we can put up a better show in the second innings”.
Vijay denied India had thrown away the advantage and insisted a good total had already been posted. What we have got to do now is go there and put pressure on them.
India limped to 291 for 9 at the close of play but with the pitch rapidly deteriorating the runs they were able to get in the morning session may prove to be the difference between the two sides when all is said and done. “We expect very good competition and good hard-fought cricket”, Kohli said of his opposite number Kane Williamson. “That is what I have experienced on the first day, so it’s going to be hard for them as well more so with the quality of (Ravi) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja in the side”, he added.
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Santner, then a rookie in global cricket, picked wickets at will and bamboozled India’s batsmen with his precision as Kiwis went on to record a stunning 47-run victory against the tournament favourites. “From now on we can only build on the collapse suffered by India”, informed Santner. “It’s going to be a good day for us, hopefully”.
