IND vs NZ 1st Test Day 2 Report: On a rare day, India were utterly dominated by a visiting team in a home Test as New Zealand bowled India out for only 46 runs and then ended the day with a lead of 134 and 7 wickets in hand.
After day 1 of the Bengaluru Test was washed out, play resumed on day 2 on the scheduled time with Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, electing to bat first. However, it turned to be a horror show for the hosts as they recorded their thir-lowest total in Test cricket and their lowest at home.
Matt Henry and William O’Rourke shared 9 wickets as the Kiwi pacers effectively utilised the pace-friendly conditions in the first session. Then when New Zealand batted, the clouds gave away the way for bright sunshine and Conway creamed a half-century but missed his century by 9 runs.
IND vs NZ 1st Test Day 2 Report:
India went with three spinners and New Zealand with three pacers. The Kiwis, though they lost the toss, got the best of the seam-friendly conditions in the morning and their fast bowlers ran riot.
Tim Southee rattled through the gate of Rohit Sharma, who played an unnecessary skip-down-the-pitch shot before O’Rourke and Henry got into the action. The youngster got Virat Kohli, who batted at No. 3 today, fending to leg slip and Sarfaraz Khan hit Henry to extra cover where Conway took a stunning one-handed catch.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant tried to counter-attack but the Kiwi seamers were too good. Jaiswal cut O’Rourke to point while Pant edged Henry to slip. KL Rahul was caught down the leg side before Ravindra Jadeja’s flick took a leading edge. The tail couldn’t hang around either, not that anyone expected them to.
Five Indian batsmen were dismissed for a duck and New Zealand were in to bat in the second session itself.
Also Read: Weather Forecast for IND vs NZ Day 3
The conditions got better for batting when the Kiwi openers came out as the moisture in the surface had dried up. It took 17 overs for India to strike first as Kuldeep Yadav trapped New Zealand captain Tom Latham. Will Young got a start but was dismissed for 33 by Jadeja.
Conway and Ashwin had a compelling battle and the left-hander hit a couple of sixes off the champion off-spinner. Ashwin was removed from the attack but came back later on to castle Conway, beating the opener on his reverse-sweep and denying him a century by only 9 runs. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell are now at the crease and they will look to add to New Zealand’s lead on day 3.
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