India collapsed from 154-1 to 291-9 against New Zealand on the first day of the first test, with spinner Mitchell Santner and seamer Trent Boult taking three wickets each on Thursday.
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Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin did put together a 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket but their departure once again saw India lose their way.
Conditions in Kanpur weren’t as helpful but Santner said there was still enough to keep he, Ish Sodhi (1-50) and Mark Craig (1-59) interested as the three-pronged Kiwi spin attack sent down 59 overs between them.
Ravindra Jadeja will begin day two on 16 and will have Umesh Yadav for company with eight runs to his name. The former India captains were felicitated as part of the celebrations to mark India’s 500th Test match. All we’ve got to do now is to put pressure on them while bowling.
Sharma, whose 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014 remains the highest ODI score, averages 42.08 in one-dayers but went into the opening day of the match against New Zealand with a Test average of 32.62. Wriddhiman and Shami got identical deliveries that jagged back in from three quarter length breaching their defence. They will first need to knock off India’s last wicket early on Day II and then bat very well.
“After losing the toss, I think we are in a reasonably good position”, the young Northern Districts all-rounder said.
It was left-arm spinner Santner, who removed prodigious KL Rahul in the morning session and later broke the second-wicket stand between Vijay and Pujara to open the window for his side.
Santner admitted the wicket of Virat Kohli was among the key moments for New Zealand. “Test cricket is about knowing when to pace up, when to slow down, how to play a full match for five days”, he said. After the wicket of Rohit, only R Ashwin provide resistance and played positive cricket. We have put the runs on the board.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja bowled with four close-in fielders to put the visiting batsmen under pressure but the visitors handled the spin easily. “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. Other batsmen got starts but failed to carry on with the job of patiently occupying the crease. Pujara, Vijay and Ashwin played really well.
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New Zealand, having lost the toss, may have been on the back foot at the start of the day but they fought back with a planned effort. Both batsmen got to their respective fifties in the second session too and at that stage it looked like a score of 400, if not more, was definitely on the cards for India.
