ON BACKFOOT
India collapse from 154/1 to 291/9 against NZ after solid start in 500th Test
India faltered after a sound start to their first innings as New Zealand banked on a strong bowling performance to grab the upper hand on the opening day of their first cricket Test here on Thursday.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, the Indians had a promising start to their innings, doing well in the pre-lunch session. But the Kiwi bowlers hit back, claiming eight wickets in the next two sessions for the hosts to finish the day at 291/9.
In the historic 500th Test match for India, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav were at the crease at the close of play on 16 and eight runs, respectively.
For New Zealand, pacer Trent Boult (3/57) and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (3/77) picked up three wickets each while Neil Wagner (1/42), Mark Craig (1/59) and Indianorigin leg-spinner Inderbir Singh Sodhi (1/50) chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Most of the Indian batsmen fell to poor shots after misreading the turn or bounce of the ball rather than any top quality bowling by the visitors.
The Indians started off on a positive note with opener Lokesh Rahul hitting Boult for a couple of boundaries in the very first over of the series.
The New Zealand pacers recovered thereafter to restrict the flow of runs to some extent.
Rahul, however, continued to target Boult, hitting a couple of consecutive boundaries off the pacer in the seventh over.
The opener swept Santner for a six in the 11th over, but the spinner had his revenge off the very next ball when Rahul misread an outgoing delivery.
Rahul scored at a decent rate, posting 32 runs off 39 deliveries. His innings was studded with four boundaries and a six.
Cheteshwar Pujara then joined Murali Vijay in the middle and the duo negotiated the New Zealand bowling with skill and patience to ensure that the hosts went into the lunch break at a decent 105/1.
Santner was the only Kiwi bowler to bag a wicket in the morning session.
The rest of the Kiwi bowlers toiled away without reward under hot and humid conditions.
But whatever advantage the hosts had managed to claim was fritterred away in the post-lunch session as the Kiwi bowlers struck back to claim the crucial wickets of Vijay, Pujara and Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Boult outfoxed Vijay in the very first over after lunch with a cross-seam short pitched delivery. The Indian opener was surprised by the extra bounce as the ball took the outer edge of his bat and travelled to where first slip should have been.
But the lack of a fielder at that position saved Vijay and the Kiwis could only watch as the ball raced to the boundary.
Santner bagged his second wicket when Pujara misread the spin on a slightly overpitched delivery which did not turn much after pitching. Pujara played for the spin, expecting it to turn towards the off-stump but only managed to offer a tame caught and bowled chance to Santner.
Kohli (9) seemed to be in good touch, hitting two boundaries during his short stay at the crease. But he fell to a rash shot, attempting to pull Wagner for a six. The Indian captain misjudged the bounce and the ball flew off the top edge for a relatively easy catch for Sodhi.