New Zealand ended Day 2 for the first Test at Green Park, Kanpur in a strong position. They took the last six Indian wickets for just 87 runs today before their openers, Tom Latham and Will Young. batted 57 overs and remained unbeaten while reducing the deficit by 129 runs. Interestingly, Latham (75*) and Young (50*) matched the overnight scores of Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja after Day 1.
New Zealand struck early on Day 2. Tim Southee cramped Jadeja for space early in the morning before eventually sneaking one through his defence, before the latter could add to his overnight score.
Wriddhiman Saha stayed on for five overs as the Iyer became the 16th Indian to score a century on Test debut. But Southee persisted with a nagging line, eventually moving one away to find the edge of Saha (1). Iyer (105) followed soon, to a loose to cover. Southee (5-69) got his fifth wicket when he induced an edge off Axar Patel (3) to have him caught behind.
R. Ashwin played some delightful shots. He and Umesh Yadav added 26 for the 9th wicket to take India to 339/8 at lunch. But Ashwin (38) played Ajaz Patel (2-90) all over and was bowled soon after lunch. And while Umesh hit Kyle Jamieson (3-91) for six, Ajaz (2-90) trapped Ishant (0) leg before.
New Zealand started cautiously and scored just 10 runs in first eight overs. Latham used DRS to overturn three calls – two leg-before, one caught behind – and marched on.
The Indians tried hard to ensure the New Zealand openers did not run away with the game. Despite not losing a wicket, New Zealand managed to score at a only 2.26 an over. Young was the more aggressive of the two, hitting 12 fours. His first fifty came off 88 balls, following which he went into a shell against some probing bowling from Ashwin, Jadeja, and Axar, managing only 25 off the next 92. Latham, too, reached his fifty in 157 balls just before the day’s play was called off early due to bad light.
The Indian spin trio shared 41 overs. Although they conceded just 92, they failed to break through, for while they found turn, it was too slow to trouble the batters, who either waited or swept with precision. With Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to follow, they need to create early inroads on Day 3..
Brief scores: India 345 (Shreyas Iyer 105; Tim Southee 5-69) lead New Zealand 129/0 (Will Young 75*) by 216 runs.