A host of former Test captains including Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were in the crowd to celebrate the milestone match at the start of a packed season of worldwide cricket for India. We really got to be patient on this wicket I guess.
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The pair shared an unbroken 117-run stand to take New Zealand to 152 for one at tea before it started drizzling at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium and no further play was possible.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson knew where his bowling strength lay.
Neil Wagner, Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig chipped in with a wicket each.
Opener Murali Vijay admitted that Indian batsmen were guilty of playing loose shots to let go the advantage in the first Test against New Zealand here but asserted that the hosts have put up a good total to make a game out of it.
That included 4-11 off four overs against India in Nagpur when the hosts were felled for 79 in a 47-run loss.
When the second new ball was taken as soon as it was due after 80 overs, Santner was given first use of the red cherry and induced Rohit (35) to hole out to Sodhi at mid-on. “It was starting to turn a bit, and the bowlers were getting into good rhythm”, Bangar said.
After all, they pulled back a potentially awkward situation to restrict India to 291 for nine. Rahul played the game just like a one day worldwide and scored a quick 32 before getting out in a Santner delivery.
Wriddhiman and Shami got identical deliveries that jagged back in from three quarter length breaching their defence. “We have plans, the wicket is on the slower side and it is going to be hard to score runs.so it’s going to be hard for them as well”.
New Zealand, on the other hand, came in with five specialist bowlers, including three spinners.
It was not the first time that the spinners have troubled India.
Around the time the New Zealand innings touched the 30-over mark, skipper Virat Kohli was seen rubbing the ball vigorously on his pants at mid-on as Umesh Yadav measured his run-up.
Cricket score India vs New Zealand Test 1 day 2 at Kanpur: The Kiwis were quite mature in their innings as they focused on taking singles and twos with an odd boundary. There may arise a situation where India might be needing 60 runs to win withRohit and the lower-order for company.
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Legendary Sachin Tendulkar lavished praise on the current team led by Virat Kohli as he feels that the core of the team will remain the same for the next decade and he is expecting India to dominate world cricket. “It’s a good total to play around with”, he said with confidence. Like you said, Kohli is a big wicket, but India have a very strong batting line-up going down to Jadeja at No.9.
