India vs NZ, 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps- A brilliant batting effort gives India the upper hand

India vs NZ, 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: Under the stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, India would be happy at the end of Stumps on Day 1. Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in the first of the two-match Test series at Green Park in Kanpur. New Zealand, surprisingly left out Neil Wagner and went with only two seamers (Southee and Jamieson) and three spinners (Ajaz Patel, Somerville, and Ravindra).

Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill opened the innings for India. The former, unfortunately, got out early as Jamieson got New Zealand the first breakthrough in the 8^th over of the innings. Gill, however, kept playing his shots and stitched a valuable 61 runs for the second wicket with Pujara.

Jamieson bowled a peach of the delivery to Shubman only to rattle his stumps right after lunch. Tim Southee then sent Pujara back to the hut to leave India at 106 for 3. Ajinkya Rahane looked good for 35 off 63 but he too failed to convert the start into a big score. At 145 for 4, the match was evenly poised.

However, Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer didn’t let New Zealand pick a single wicket in the third session of play. The duo stitched an unbeaten 113-run partnership for the 5^th wicket to help India score 258 at the end of the day’s play. Playing his first Test match, Shreyas Iyer is currently unbeaten at 75 off 136 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja amassed an unbeaten 50 off 100 deliveries. For New Zealand, Kyle Jamieson starred with the ball, picking 3 for 47, while Southee picked 1. The spinners didn’t impress at out. Ajaz Khan proved ineffective for his 0 for 78 in 21 overs.

With the new ball expected to swing and seam early on tomorrow, New Zealand would be looking to pick early wickets. India, however, would be keen to continue the momentum to dominate the second’s play. It will be interesting to see how the two teams fare on Friday.