Kolkata: India’s vaunted batting line-up failed to recover from the early blows dealt by New Zealand’s concerted bowling effort and wobbled to 239 for the loss of seven wickets on the opening day of the second cricket Test here Friday.
Barring Cheteshwar Pujara (87, 219b, 17×4) and Ajinkya Rahane (77, 157b, 11×4), none of the batsmen came good after skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat on a slightly double-paced wicket at the Eden Gardens, hosting India’s 250th home Test.
Ravindra Jadeja (0 batting) and Wriddhiman Saha (14 batting) were holding fort for the home side when stumps were drawn at the end of the 87th over due to bad light.
The Kiwis, who were dealt a blow this morning when regular skipper and top batsman Kane Williamson was ruled out of match owing to illness, showed tremendous resilience to put up a fine first day show.
Medium-pacer Matt Henry (3/35) was the Black Caps top wicket-taker while off-spinner Jeetan Patel (2/66), brought into the side due to the injury-forced exit of Mark Craig, also chipped in with vital dismissals.
India however, had a disastrous start as Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli all fell cheaply. Pujara and Rahane’s dogged fourth-wicket stand of 141 runs helped the hosts recover to some extent before the visitors struck back in the last session with four wickets to wrest back the initiative.
From being 46/3 in a jittery first session, Pujara and Rahane batted with grit and determination under the blazing afternoon heat and energy-sapping humidity. The duo’s stand spanned 189 minutes but then Neil Wagner (1/37) dismissed the Saurashtra batsman in the last session to bring his side back in the game. Pujara holed out to Martin Guptill at short-cover, after being pushed on to the back-foot with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries.
However, it was not a good day at his favourite ground for Rohit Sharma (2), who was dismissed by Patel immediately after.
Earlier in the morning Kohli’s poor form continued as after playing an exquisite cover driver he chased a wide delivery to be caught by Tom Latham off the bowling of Trent Boult (1/33). Down the order, Ravichandran Ashwin played a useful knock of 26 which took India past the 200-run mark.
Press Trust of India
