Earlier on Day One, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay opened the innings for India, after India won the toss and elected to bat first on what was expected to a spin-friendly Kanpur wicket. I batted well and I thought after tea it was my session to cash in.
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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.
If you play the highlight reel of Indian dismissals, only Pujara (return catch) and Ajinkya Rahane (bat-pad) were soft ones.
Kanpur-India seemed to have made the ideal start to their 500th Test. The New Zealand opener continued to live dangerously, surviving another LBW shout and offering judgement on a ball that held its line and was precariously close to knocking back the off-stump.
Mitchell Santner finished with 3/94 as India were all out for 318. Opener Lokesh Rahul raised expectations, but played casually to surrender his wicket for a score of 32. His innings was studded with four boundaries and a six.
The left-handed Latham was on 56 with Williamson on 65, with New Zealand trailing the hosts by 166 runs in the first innings on day two.
Each and every Kiwi bowler was among wickets, highlighting a team effort, led by Santner.
The rest of the Kiwi bowlers toiled away without reward under hot and humid conditions. Apart from him, skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s poor shot selection also resulted in wickets. Equally, over-pitched deliveries went back down the ground. This surface is still playing pretty well, but there are a few balls taking off and turning. There weren’t many cracks when we played, so it will turn, making batting hard in the 3rd and 4th innings. The duo looked comfortable against New Zealand bowlers before Santner struck once again to remove Pujara.
Kohli (9) seemed to be in good touch, hitting two boundaries during his short stay at the crease. He tried to pull a bouncer from Wagner and ended up offering a catch at the square leg. Kohli had to work against the angle, and only managed a top-edge that settled nicely in Sodhi’s hands.
Rohit Sharma too, got off to a start but gave it away, when at 35.
He did not need a second invitation, ripping out gloveman Wriddhiman Saha, Ashwin and Mohammed Shami in the space of 20 balls to allow the visitors to leave the field with a spring in their step.
“That’s part of playing in India”.
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Not the cracked pitch, not Rohit and Ashwin’s short-lived 52-run stand for the 6th wicket, not Boult’s stunning 3-wicket spell later in the day either – after they looked doomed with India at 105/1 at lunch, it was New Zealand’s fightback in the second session that promotes this series to a contest. It’s early days – Williamson came into this series with an even record – but if there was ever a series a visiting captain wanted to win tosses in, it is one in India, against this Indian Test side.
