Kanpur: After a brilliant fightback by bowlers, Tom Latham (56*) and Kane Williamson (65*) put New Zealand in a commanding position against Virat Kohli and his men on Day 2 of the first Test being played at Green Park. Earlier, Kiwis bowled India out for 318 runs in the first innings after picking the wicket of Umesh Yadav, who was dismissed by Neil Wagner. (SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS)
UPDATE: That will be stumps! There was an inspection at 3:45 pm by the umpires who didn't find the conditions suitable for further play.
After light drizzle, the rain got heavier. The good part is that the entire ground was covered:
Rain delays the start of play in the final session of Day 2. More updates on the same soon @Paytm Test Cricket #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/9Z4OcK1DRw
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 23, 2016
Over 47 | Score 152/1 | (Latham 56*, Williamson 65*)
That' the end of another session. And the ground has currently been covered as rain has interrupted the proceedings. While we all know about Williamson's credentials, credit must go to Latham, who has been equally brilliant. The halt might give the Indian team time to rework on their strategies. The partnership for the second wicket is now worth 117 runs and Kohli needs his bowlers to dismiss one of these batsmen at the earliest whenever play resumes.
Over 40 | Score 135/1 | (Latham 53*, Williamson 52*)
India almost got their first breakthrough when Tom Latham hit one straight into the hands of Lokesh Rahul at short leg. The batsman was however given not-out by the third umpire as the replay suggest that Rahul lost his balance and as he collected the ball in his second attempt, it hit the strap of his helmet, which meant it was a dead ball. Barring that one incident, Indian bowlers have once again failed to make any impact. The Kiwi duo is batting with ease and have already added a 100-run stand for second wicket.
Over 32 | Score 103/1 | (Latham 37*, Williamson 40*)
Session after session, the visitors are strengthening their grip over the match. These two are perfect examples of how batsmen from overseas need to tackle spinners in India. They have played wonderfully off the backfoot, especially Williamson, who as expected, is playing a captain's knock. Kohlil's bowlers have failed to get the second breakthrough as the frustration grows in the Indian camp. The partnership is now worth 68 runs for the second wicket.
Over 26 | Score 85/1 | (Latham 29*, Williamson 31*)
Williamson and Latham continue to frustrate Indian batsmen with a good partnership for second wicket. These two are also not hesitating in punishing loose deliveries. None of the Indian bowlers has managed to make in impact. The worse part being India are playing with just four bowlers in the match. These two have so far added 50 runs for the second wicket. Williamson's wicket is the key.
Over 21 | Score 71/1 | (Latham 18*, Williamson 7*)
LUNCH: Well done New Zealand. Williamson would be a happy man the way things have gone for the team so far. Along with Latham, the Kiwi skipper has tackled the Indian spinners pretty well so far. India should not be disappointed as there is plenty of time still left. The Indian spinners are yet to weave their magic.
Over 15 | Score 50/1 | (Latham 18*, Williamson 7*)
After Guptill's dismissal, Latham and Williamson have looked to block most of the balls. Both the batsmen have a technique best suited to the traditional format and expectations would be high from these two. Jadeja and Ashwin are bowling from both the ends but they haven't been able to make much of an impact thus far.
Over 10 | Score 35/1 | (Latham 10*, Williamson 0*)
Umesh Yadav was reintroduced into the attack in the tenth over and he made his presence felt as Martin Guptill was trapped in front of the wicket. The right-hander was looking to play attacking shots against Indian spinners, but missed the length of the ball against Yadav. Kane Williamson is the next man in and he will have to play a big knock for his team.
MJ Guptill lbw b Yadav 21 (31b)
Over 5 | Score 318/10 | (Guptill 15*, Latham 5*)
Tom Latham and Martin Guptill have got Kiwis off to a decent start. Both the batsmen have looked to show some positive intent. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav began the proceedings for the hosts, however, Ravindra Jadeja was introduced in the third over of the innings. Shami has got plenty of bounce so far. Good signs for India. It remains to be seen how long will Kohli persist with him with Ashwin yet to bowl his first over of the match.
Over 97 | Score 318/10 | (Jadeja 42*)
New Zealand finally managed to get the last wicket as Umesh Yadav bottom edged a bouncer from Neil Wagner to the wicketkeeper. Jadeja, who was looking good today, remained unbeaten on 42. These two have put a decent 41-run stand for tenth wicket.
UT Yadav c Watling b Wagner 9 (27b)
Over 95 | Score 312/9 | (Jadeja 36*, Yadav 9*)
Santner bowled the first over on Day 2 where Jadeja blocked the first five deliveries and smashed the last one over mid-off for a boundary. Jadeja also charged down the wicket in Santner's next over and launched him over long-on for a Six! Good positive batting by the left-hander. He has been well supported by Yadav so far, who has rightly looked to block most of the deliveries. India have added 21 runs in the first five overs today.
After a good start on Day 1, the visitors made a spectacular fightback as they reduced Virat Kohli and his men to 291/9.
Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. After Lokesh Rahul was dismissed at the score of 42, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara added 112 runs for the second-wicket partnership.
But Mitchell Santner picked his second wicket of the match when Pujara returned a catch to him. Pujara's dismissal led to the start of a massive batting collapse, as from 154/1, hosts were wobbling at 291/9 at stumps on Day 1. (Sunil Gavaskar expects Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to run riot on Day 2)
While left-arm spinner Santner (3/77) rocked the top-order, it was Trent Boult, who looked menacing with the second new ball finishing with figures of 3/57 in 17 overs. All his wickets during the last 10 overs of the day.
Ravindra Jadeja was batting on 11 at the end of the day with Umesh Yadav (8).
The Green Park track was not a rank turner on the first day itself but it did offer some assistance to the spinners.
The Kiwis fielded three spinners - Santner, offie Mark Craig and leg-break bowler Ish Sodhi, who bowled 59 out of the 90 overs. (After bitter standoff, Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri come face-to-face ahead of 500th Test)
Indian captains honoured during 500th Test
Meanwhile, the first Test between India and New Zealand is a very special moment for Indian cricket as it is also India's 500th Test.
The BCCI invited all former captains to Kanpur and held a grand function on the eve of the 1st Test.
#500thTest a historic moment fr cricket lovers #indvsnz began w/ national anthem in the presence of cricket legends. pic.twitter.com/4WJKzKIVh6
— Lt. Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) September 22, 2016
Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar were some of the big names present during the event.
