India end Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand on a comfortable 258/4

[Rajdeep]

NZ doing very well actually. They are playing with 2 seamers out of which 1 walked off with injury. Considering that they have done well.

India's next generation of batters are not looking that great. Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar etall are not test players. No domestic first class cricket for 2 years is seriously biting us now in the back. We need Ranji cricket back ASAP!

 

[MP2011]

66 runs partnership between these 2, handy one.

 

[Ab Fan]

Pujara has regressed so much after the 2018 Australia series. Rahane as usual good for nothing but gets vice captaincy.

 

[Devadwal]

Little bit reverse swing for Southee

 

[smkk]

So nice to see Shreyas batting with so much sensibility in his debut innings. Bright future for him.

I do not follow test cricket much, but if I am not mistaking, then Ravindra Jadeja have been found to play good innings in last one year more frequently then India's middle order.

 

[Marathonrunner]

Great debut by Iyer. Has shown lot of maturity in this innings. Curbed his normal shots. Looks good from Ind middle order perspective

 

[MP2011]

Kiwis resorting to bowling negative lines, both umpires have already spoken to Williamson on this.

 

[MP2011]

Rahane as usual good for nothing but gets vice captaincy.

Correction: He is captain in this game.

 

[RamLakhan]

Is this a wicket that is likely to crumble? If so, India have probably already got enough and could declare now and still win the game.

I think these wickets are bit on the flatter side, curators may know that NZ also has some spinners so they might be bit cautious! So it could be slow spin. Batting should be easier on 1st & 2nd innings, slightly difficult on 3rd innings & tough on 4th innings. Toss is not a factor (unlike in SENA) even if the 2nd batting side does well in their 1st innings they can get back to the match easily (India have won lot of home tests losing the toss and batting 2nd)

 

[RamLakhan]

Shreyas Iyer is actually an important player in the middle order (for all formats). India should persist with him (even if it means to throw out some big guys!)

 

[MP2011]

4/258 at stumps. Not bad considering Pujara and Rahane were 2 of those wickets.

 

[globalcitizen]

Brilliant by Indian management to rest senior players . Youngsters shubman and shreyas showing the world they are a serious talent to look out for.. time for rahane and pujara to wake up else they will be replaced. Next game king arrives

 

[MenInG]

Iyer, Jadeja put India in strong position on opening day

Shreyas Iyer, on Test debut, strung together an unbeaten partnership of 113 runs with Ravindra Jadeja to put India in a commanding position at stumps on day one in Kanpur.

India and New Zealand went into the game with a similar team composition, opting to go with three spinners and two pacers on a wicket expected to assist spin.

Asked to bowl first by India, New Zealand made full use of the conditions to extract movement with the new ball. Kyle Jamieson drew first blood for the Black Caps, dismissing Mayank Agarwal in the eighth over. Bowling in the corridor of uncertainty, Jamieson forced Agarwal to play and induced a thin edge into the gloves of Tom Blundell.

Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara took their time in the middle before the former decided to take the attack to the bowlers. Gill targetted Ajaz Patel, hitting his first boundary of the innings in the 11th over before smashing the left-arm spinner for a six and a four in the same over.

Gill soon brought up the fourth half-century of his Test career. At the other end, Pujara was solid as ever, tiring the bowlers out in hot and sultry conditions in Kanpur.

Both the batters took India safely to lunch at 82/1.

The break proved to be just what New Zealand needed as they struck in the very first over after lunch. Gill failed to negotiate a brilliant ball moving into him, leaving a massive gap between bat and pad as Jamieson hit timber to claim his second wicket of the day.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane and vice-captain Pujara looked solid in the middle, putting away the bad balls for boundaries to take India past the 100-run mark.

The change of bowling by Kane Williamson proved to be a masterstroke as Tim Southee broke the 24-run stand, inducing an outside edge off Pujara's bat with a wonderful away seam.

The wicket brought debutant Shreyas Iyer to the crease, who was jittery at the beginning but motored through the period. Just when Rahane was starting to look confident and was stroking the ball with impeccable timing, Jamieson broke through, forcing the Indian captain to play on to his stumps, just a ball after Rahane had a caught behind rightfully overturned by DRS.

At 145/4, India were in a slight spot of bother. Ravindra Jadeja and Iyer had to see off a tricky period of seven overs to ensure they don't lose any more wickets in the second session of the day.

India came out after the break with intent, scoring regular boundaries to put the pressure back on New Zealand. Iyer, in particular, took a liking to spinner operating from both ends as he struck four boundaries in the first eight overs after tea and brought up his maiden Test fifty on his debut, becoming the 30th Indian man to achieve this feat.

The two batters rendered the whole Kiwi bowling ineffective with the old ball, with both seamers and spinners looking helpless in difficult overhead conditions. India continued to accumulate runs as the Black Caps waited for the new ball to be available.

The new ball didn't really cause too much problem to the set Indian batters. Ravindra Jadeja brought up the 100-run partnership with Iyer with a four off the hips and soon got to his 17th Test fifty as well.

India finished the day on 258/4, with Iyer 25 runs away from a century on debut while Jadeja was on 50*.

 

[sweep_shot]

Kiwis have done well.

I thought India would be something like 300/2.

Game is on balance currently.

 

[globalcitizen]

Poor by Kiwis. Bowling down leg side and already trying to just contain batsmen instead of going for wickets

 

[shaz619]

What happened to Kohli ?

 

[Dingolfy]

Kiwis have done well.

I thought India would be something like 300/2.

Game is on balance currently.

I don’t think so. Kiwis are not chasing anything beyond 150 in this pitch which has already staying low on the very first day.

 

[sweep_shot]

I don’t think so. Kiwis are not chasing anything beyond 150 in this pitch which has already staying low on the very first day.

Yeah. It wasn't anything spectacular. But, I think they would take 258/4 considering game is in India.

Game is on balance currently.

 

[shamaan]

I am really surprised kohli isn't playing

 

[Ab Fan]

What happened to Kohli ?

King is resting. He has let his young army go all the guns blazing as the king feels they are enough for any opposition at home.

 

[MenInG]

India opener Shubman Gill was batting on six when a delivery from New Zealand’s left-arm spinner rapped the batter on his pads. Gill had chipped down the wicket but tried to defend the ball. As the ball hit the pads, Patel and the rest of the New Zealand team went up in low-ley appeal as the umpire nodded his head. No DRS was taken.

However, when the replay appeared on the big screen, it showed that the ball would have gone on to hit the middle stump, much to the surprise and dismay of left-arm spinner Patel. New Zealand had already lost a review early in the match when an LBW call against Southee was reversed. As up went the umpire's finger, Gill immediately reviewed and the replay showed a huge inside edge before the ball thudded into his pads.

It was a key moment in the game for New Zealand as Gill would go on to score a fourth Test half-century. Former New Zealand quick Simon Doull feels that with two reviews still left, New Zealand could have reviewed the call as there was no chance of the ball going over the stumps.

"They had two DRS still left. You would think there was an opportunity there. The problem is how far down the pitch was he. They would have all thought he is too far down. But it was never going over the top. That is the one thing you are sure of on this surface. You have got to bang it in really short of the ball to be going over the top of the stumps. They are heavily reliant on Tom Blundell who is new to this Test match side. Maybe they weren’t sure. You can’t really blame the skipper for that," Doull said on Star Sports at the lunch interval.

India were rocked twice after lunch with Kyle Jamieson castling Gill and Southee taking out Cheteshwar Pujara, out caught by the wicketkeeper, which restricted India from 82/1 to 106/3. The balance of the match could have been tilted in New Zealand’s favour, as rightly pointed out by former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan.

"They (New Zealand) should have gone for it. Ajaz is not a guy who bowls from a really high arm position. The umpiring has changed. With the technology and the ways it has changed, you should go for it. Umpires are ready to give those decisions. You need to go for it, and they should have gone for it. They would have gotten two wickets and would have been a lot happier," said Pathan.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...uring-1st-test-in-kanpur-101637827987715.html

 

[Devadwal]

What happened to Kohli ?

He is resting from 1st test , will play 2nd test .