New Zealand end Day Two at 152 for 1, trailing by 166 runs in the first Test against India at Green Park, Kanpur. However, India were bundled out for 318 in the first session, courtesy Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner’s stunning three-fors. Meanwhile, New Zealand batsmen looked to emulate what their bowlers did on this belter of a track. And the onus was on the Latham-Williamson duo to lay solid foundation for the middle order to surpass India’s total. They played with caution despite losing the aggressive Martin Guptill early on. Guptill, in fact, played with positive intent, plundering 21 off 31.
The spin pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left no stone unturned to catch New Zealand in spin. However, the pitch did not offer help to the spinners. They tried to find the right length on this track. They tried even number of variations. But credit goes to the New Zealand batsmen as well. As a matter of fact, the visitors seemed to have read the track well. Despite leaning forward, they waited for the ball to come on to bat, playing the stroke accordingly. All the same, India were cascaded from 154 for 1 to 318 all-out. As a result, New Zealand were mindful of the very fact.
Latham, especially, looked extremely comfortable at the crease. If the ball was pitched in good length area, he rocked back; if tossed up, he shimmied down the track and played with the line; if pitched up, he gracefully swept it to deep fine-leg. In addition, Aakash Chopra, in the commentary box, said Latham is one of the finest sweepers of the current generation. Also read: Sandeep Patil and co. thought of removing MS Dhoni from ODI captaincy
Williamson, as always, looked flawless. What commendable was he read the ball’s trajectory well.
As a matter of fact, both these batsmen made their debut against India. The scores, nonetheless, were opposite: Latham perished on a duck and Williamson scored a century.
Jadeja is known for his knack of bowling same line and length, time and again. Rarely do we see him bowl bad deliveries. Today, for a change, he was forced to make errors. Even at one point, his economy read over 3 RPO. To put India on the back foot, New Zealand batsmen played aggressive strokes against Ashwin, India’s strike bowler.
Virat Kohli tried spin from both ends. He even engineered a spin-pace attack. Eventually, nothing went India’s way, and nothing unsettled the Kiwis. They were painfully patient, and were keen on keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Amidst all this, Williamson’s pull shot against Umesh Yadav was a delight to watch. It was a back-of-length delivery outside off. Williamson balanced himself and pulled to vacant mid-wicket boundary. In fact, words can’t express the magnificence of the shot. Also read: Fans to be part of Sachin Tendulkar’s biopic
However, Latham stole the thunder. While trying to sweep Jadeja’s delivery, he inside-edged it onto the boots, which then ricocheted to KL Rahul at short forward-leg. Whether Rahul took it cleanly was not a question, to be precis. Umpire Richard Kettleborough asked the third umpire to review it.
As the spectators saw the replay on the big screen, they roared in excitement. The ball did not touch the ground, and Rahul took it cleanly. To add to the fire, Team India started celebrating as well. The breakthrough they were eagerly looking for was finally provided.
All the same, there was more to it than it appeared. The ball had hit Rahul’s helmet. He had taken chin strap or the helmet grille’s support to take the catch.
Law 32.3(d) says: ” A fielder catches the ball after it has touched an umpire, another fielder or the other batsman. However, it is not a fair catch if at any time after having been struck by the bat and before a catch is completed the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder.”
Close call! Tom Latham survives after the ball hits the grille of KL Rahul’s helmet at short leg Paytm Test Cricket #INDvNZpic.twitter.com/fCUSIEUJFk
The final verdict was Not Out. Fair and square. The third umpire went by the law. Meanwhile, Rahul looked startled. It seemed as if he had no clue about the law. Umpires patiently explained the law and politely explained as to why Latham was not out. Also read: Tom Latham declared ‘not-out’: Twitter reactions
Steadily, without making any fuss, both batsmen reached their half-centuries. While Latham scored his eighth fifty, Williamson brought up his 23rd one.
Let’s not disregard the fact that Indian spinners left no stone unturned to get the better of the staggering duo. They dished out different field positions for them. Ashwin, for that matter, did not station first-slip for Williamson. However, there was a leg-slip and short forward-leg in place. It was apparent that he wanted to create an inside edge. Jadeja, on the hand, focussed on producing Williamson’s outside edge.
Not that the sailing was smooth for New Zealand. There loud shots of ‘catch it’. The bowlers growled in disgust every time there was a half chance. New Zealand batsmen indeed were lucky. And the commentators share the same thought as well (by the way, the panel includes the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Aakash Chopra, among others).
There was a wicket around the corner. India could smell blood. There was a series of play-and-miss when the pacers bowled. To put things into perspective, every bowler tried and tested all the weapons in their armoury. Pacers bowled yorkers and bouncers. Ashwin fired his wily carom ball. Jadeja tried to deceive them with his arm ball. Nothing. Absolutely nothing went India’s way. Also read: MS Dhoni is a great captain; excited to watch his biopic: Sreesanth
Hence, the question beckons: is India missing a fifth bowler?
Kohli masterminded a six-batsman strategy. Given the number of runs India scored, it went for a toss. Agreed, the New Zealand bowling unit was remarkable on Day One. Indian batsmen, all the same, failed to apply themselves sensibly.
Murali Vijay rolled his arm for an over. He did create half chances, but that was not enough to dent the resilient New Zealanders. Therefore, India needed an extra spinner. More importantly, they missed the services of leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
Latham and Williamson added 116 runs for the second wicket, taking New Zealand to 152 for 1 at tea.
However, the dark clouds looming since morning could not hold back, compelling the groundsmen to cover the ground. With rain refusing to go away, umpires decided to call it off.
Brief Scores
India 318 all-out (Murali Vijay 65, Cheteshwar Pujara 62, Ravindra Jadeja 42*; Trent Boult 3 for 67, Mitchell Santner 3 for 94) lead New Zealand 152 for 1 (Tom Latham 56*, Kane Williamson 66*; Umesh Yadav 1 for 22) by 166 runs
(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)
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