Shreyas Iyer once again displayed steely flair on his way to his second 50-plus score in the match, hitting eight fours and a long six against Will Somerville.
Shreyas Iyer’s dream debut went all the better as he chased down his first innings century with a half-century under heavy pressure as India reached 167 for seven at tea on the fourth day of the opening Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.
India’s overall lead is already 216, which could be a winning score as Iyer (65 off 125 balls) forged two crucial partnerships – 52 for the sixth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin (32 off 62 balls) and Wriddhiman With 64 runs for the seventh wicket. Saha (22 batting 69 balls), who is also struggling to defend his place in the team.
It was after stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and his deputy Cheteshwar Pujara’s saga of failures continued as India were at 51 for five in the morning session and then 103 for six when Ashwin reached the post-lunch session. gone.
But the credit goes to Iyer, who once again displayed a steely flair on the way to his second 50-plus score in the match, hitting eight fours and a long six against Will Somerville.
However, his best shot was an inside out lofted drive off left-arm spinner Ejaz Patel. It was a difficult shot that was executed perfectly. Then Kane Williamson made a mistake by throwing his spinners too long with a square cut in the same over.
It was proved when Tim Southee removed Iyer at the stroke of tea when he tried to pull one flowing down the leg side.
Credit should also be given to Saha as he batted with an open-chested stance as compared to his usual side-on, which minimizes apparent neck movement.
Although the pitch is still not playable, India’s spinners may be able to defend anything above 180, as it is expected that a lot of balls will be short, even if there is not much turn on offer.
However, on the fourth morning, Southee, a practitioner of traditional swing bowling, took a master-class on how to bowl on an irresponsible Indian track, which classically sets up batsmen.
But before Southee swung into action, Kyle Jamieson (13-6-26-3) targeted Pujara’s (22 off 33 balls) ribcage, putting him back on this dead track and making it India’s No. took the gloves in his hands. Keeper Tom Blundell’s.
Rahane (4 runs from 15 balls) is out of form and the world knows about it. The best way to build the pressure was to cut into singles and for 13 balls he struggled to score one run.
Then, a brilliant inside out cover drive from Patel (15-349-1) helped them break the chains.
However Patel, who has looked far below Test class, made his best delivery of the match. An arm ball that was fired with an angle caught Rahane from the front while he tried to play a forward defensive game.
Mayank Agarwal (17) worked hard in the first hour, but Southee (15.2-3-48-3) gave him deliveries from a good length spot as he played with the bat closed.
He then pitched in the same spot and to Agarwal’s horror, it took shape a bit away and he committed for a closed bat-face. The result was a regulation catch from Tom Latham at second slip.
For Ravindra Jadeja (0), Southee used the width of the crease with an angular delivery that wrapped him over the pads.
Ashwin joined Iyer at 51 for five and played some aggressive strokes, including a straight drive from Southee, to defuse the tense dressing room.
Scoreboard at lunch:
India 1st innings: 345
New Zealand 1st innings: 296
India 2nd Innings: (14-1 overnight in 5 overs) Mayank Agarwal c Latham b Southee 17 Shubman Gill b Jamieson 1 Cheteshwar Pujara c Tom Blundell b Jamieson 22 Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Ejaz Patel 4 Shreyas Iyer c Tom Blundell b Southee 65 Ravindra Jadeja lbw b Southee 0 Ravichandran Ashwin c Tom Blundell b Southee 32 Wriddhiman Saha bat 22
Extra: (B-3, LB-1) 4
Total: 167/7 in 60.2 overs
Fall of wickets: 2-1, 32-2, 41-3, 51-4, 51-5, 103/6, 167/7
Bowling: Tim Southee 15.2-2-48-3, Kyle Jamieson 13-6-26-3, Aijaz Patel 15-3-49-1, Achin Ravindra 9-3-17-0, William Somerville 8-1-23- 0.
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