India Vs New Zealand LIVE, 1st Test Day 2: If heavy rain played the destroyer on the opening day, it was the turn of New Zealand’s fast bowlers on the second morning of the first Test against India in Bengaluru. William O’Rourke (3-13) and Matt Henry (2-12) led the way for the visitors after Rohit Sharma surprisingly chose to bat under tricky overhead conditions on a damp surface. It played right into New Zealand’s hands as their seamers were on song from the get-go, utilising the extravagant seam movement and swing to great effect.
Kiwi Pace Attack gave no Chance to Indian Batters
The tone was set by Henry upfront alongside the seasoned Tim Southee with India’s openers being put on a tight leash. The initial 30 minutes saw a lot of play and misses, and some close shouts but Rohit and his partner Yashasvi Jaiswal managed to hang in there. However, Southee soon broke through for the BlackCaps with a nip-backer that almost came in like a fast off-break to beat Rohit on the inside edge, castling his woodwork. It was a dismissal out of frustration for the Indian captain who tried to give the charge to unsettle the bowler, only to find himself back to the pavilion.
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O’Rourke, who impressed on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, then got into the act with a massive strike in his very first over. The tall pacer, generating high speeds, got a nip-backer to rear up disconcertingly on Virat Kohli (0) whose attempt to fend resulted in a low catch to Glenn Phillips at leg gully. Glenn Phillips, agile as ever, plucked a brilliant low to catch to extend New Zealand’s advantage. The catching only got better as Devon Conway plucked a one-handed blinder at mid-off to send a nervy Sarfaraz Khan for a duck. India were now 10/3.
Rishabh Pant walked in at no.5 ahead of KL Rahul, possibly as a counterattack option to New Zealand’s nagging lines and lengths. The wicketkeeper-batter tried his luck, even attempting a reverse sweep and should have been taken by Tom Blundell behind the sticks later, only for the New Zealand gloveman to put the chance down. Rain briefly interrupted proceedings and that delay, if anything, spiced the surface up a bit more. New Zealand kept plugging away and Ajaz Patel produced another magical bit of fielding at backward point to end Jaiswal’s resistance at the crease with Lunch around the corner.
It was a breakthrough that spurred the tourists on as two more Indian batters fell for ducks. Rahul fell to a well-set leg trap as he tucked a shortish length ball from O’Rourke to be strangled down the leg-side while Ravindra Jadeja’s lazy flick resulted in a big leading edge, that Ajaz pouched at backward point.
Having lost four of their top seven for ducks for the first time in a home Test and reduced to 34/6, India have had a horror session and the initial impression is that it was a good toss to lose for New Zealand, given the bowler-friendly conditions. India’s hopes of salvaging a respectable first innings total depends on how Pant fares with the lower order.
At the time of writing India has been bowled out by New Zealand on 46, a disappointing show with the bat by the Indians. Indian bowlers now have to grind really hard to reduce New Zealand to a low total.
