Published: Sep 22, 2016, 05:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 22, 2016, 08:47 PM (IST)
The historic 500th Test for India started with former captains’ felicitation, then toss, which was followed with both the nations’ national anthem. Batting first, India had a promising start but soon Kiwi spinner Mitchell Santner drew first blood by taking opener KL Rahul’s wicket, who scored 32. Further, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara played very calmly by adding 112 runs for the second wicket. The partnership was broken once again by Santner who scalped Pujara this time, who was looking promising but scored only 62.
From there on, wickets kept tumbling from Indian batting line up as Kiwi bowlers bounced back in the game by putting the hosts on backfoot with regular wickets. From 154 for 2, India went down to 273 for 8. In between, captain Virat Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin got out after decent starts. Further, at one stage, it looked like India will be all out but Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav stuck to the crease and remained unbeaten after taking the total to 291/9 at stumps on Day 1 of the match.
From the Kiwi bowling department, Santner and Trent Boult picked three wickets each while Neil Wagner, Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi took one wicket each, which speaks about New Zealand’s overall performance. Also, not to forget that there was some excellent field placing by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson throughout the day. On the other hand, most the Indian batsmen had quite soft dismissals.
Meanwhile, here are some reactions from the social zone.
It is very special skill 2 have as a left armer to bring the ball in to the right hand batsman which @trent_boult has #testcricket #skill
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 22, 2016
Tremendous bowling from Trent Boult towards the end of the day. #INDvNZ — Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) September 22, 2016
@StarSportsIndia Great performance by @trent_boult on a pitch where there is a lot for spinners. Good to see a left armer doing well again. — Sunny Gupta (@SunnySG_23) September 22, 2016
Santner, NZ’s most successful bowler today, hasn’t bowled a single ball to either Rohit or Ashwin. #500thTEST #IndvNZ
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 22, 2016
#TrentBoult U easily can’t keep him out of game!! Fantastic spell from #boult at the end and disciplined bowling from kiwis in day #indVnz
— Jitendra Vala (@jitendravala123) September 22, 2016
Amazing comeback from New Zealand Excellent day of Test cricket India looked comfortable till the first hour of the 2nd session#indvnz — Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) September 22, 2016
Good day for the boys in the end! Fingers crossed we hang around tomoro.. #INDvNZ — Sam Bowden (@Bowden_94) September 22, 2016
Great fightback by New Zealand.
Vijay ‘s wicket very crucial.
This partnership the key now.
Need 450+#INDvNZ— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) September 22, 2016
Great fightback from @BLACKCAPS, Kane Williamson captaincy on point. @BCCI going in with 6 batters a blessing now! #INDvNZ
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) September 22, 2016
Loud cheer as Pujara gets out. Now he knows how Dravid felt… Kohli walks in to an even louder cheer. #IndvNZ — Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) September 22, 2016
Rohit Sharma 35….give him another Arjuna award — Prateek1385 (@Prateek1385) September 22, 2016
It’s not about Rohit Sharma getting out. It’s about the way he gets out. #frustrating
— Hitman Cricket (@HitmanCricket) September 22, 2016
Rohit Sharma and his temperament in Tests. #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/l4TuyNknYm
— Hitman Cricket (@HitmanCricket) September 22, 2016
