It was a fascinating fourth day’s play as India continued to be in the box seat against New Zealandin Kanpur. However, while it wasn’t the case in the first hour of the day as the New Zealand bowlers ripped through the Indian top-order to leave them reeling at 51/5, Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha struck gritty half-centuries while Ravichandran Ashwin made a vital 32 to take India to 234/7 before they declared.
Ashwin also struck late in the day as he had Will Young LBW to complete what was a fine day for India in this Test match. New Zealand have their task cut out as they look to bat out the fifth day and pull off a draw or a win. In 90 overs that are left to be bowled, the Kiwis need 280 more runs on day five.
Here are the talking points of the game:
New Zealand dent India with a flurry of wickets in the first hour
India started the day at 14/1 and had a lead of 63. They were ahead but also needed to bat well and gain a substantial lead. However, the New Zealand bowlers came out all guns blazing and reduced India to 51/5.
Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara started off decently as they put away the bad balls and kept the scoreboard ticking. However, Kyle Jamieson extracted some extra bounce and had Pujara caught behind in the seventh over of the day. A few overs later, skipper Ajinkya Rahane was caught plumb in-front off Ajaz Patel before Tim Southee took two wickets in three balls to leave India reeling. Agarwal edged one to second slip off Southee before the latter had Ravindra Jadeja LBW.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane’s disappointing run continues
In the absence of most of the star batters like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, India would’ve banked on senior batters like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to step up. However, the senior duo have disappointed big time and their inconsistent and scratchy run in Test cricket continued.
Pujara got a small start like the first innings but he couldn’t build on and was dismissed on 22. On the other hand, Rahane was out for just 4. That prolonged the duo’s lean patch. Rahane averages a mere 24.39 since January 2020 and he has played 16 Tests, in which, he has scored just one hundred and two fifties. While Pujara has played some crucial knocks, especially in Australia and England, his inconsistency has grown. He has an average of 27.65 in the aforementioned period and has recorded seven half-centuries.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer resurrect the innings for India
When India lost Jadeja, India’s score was just 51 and the lead was exactly 100. The pitch hadn’t even deteriorated a lot and India were well away from safe waters. That’s when Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin combined together to add 52 runs for the sixth wicket.
Ashwin came out and scored a slew of boundaries early on before settling down and kept the scoreboard ticking. On the other hand, Iyer was patient at his end and didn’t try anything fancy and out of the ordinary. The debutant scored only 19 runs in that partnership but alongside Ashwin, the duo blunted out an attacking New Zealand attack which took India to safer shores.
Shreyas Iyer’s dream debut continues
Shreyas Iyer’s dream Test debut continued as he smashed 65 and bailed India out of another tricky situation in this Test match. He was the key in the first innings as well as it was his ton that helped the hosts post 345. His rich vein of form continued in the second essay as he struck a fine half-century. He became only the 10th player overall and first Indian to score century in the first innings and follow it up with a 50+ score in second innings on Test debut.
Coming into bat at 41/3 which soon turned into 51/5, Iyer was patient and showed excellent temperament. He played the pacers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson well and was dominant against the Kiwi spinners. His partnership with Ashwin was crucial but then along with Wriddhiman Saha, Iyer took India’s lead past 200. He was dismissed on the stroke of Tea for 65 but he had got the job done by then.
Iyer’s form creates a headache in the dressing room ahead of the second Test. With Virat Kohli returning, one batter will have to sit out, and Iyer, with his showings, has given enough reasons why he should retain his spot.
Wriddhiman Saha hits fifty before Ashwin gets a wicket to cap off a brilliant day for India
While Ashwin and Iyer did the resurrection job for India but when Ashwin got out, India’s lead was still only 152. Iyer was batting well and needed someone to support him and Saha did exactly that. The veteran wicket-keeper batsman shared a 67-run stand with Iyer. Once the latter was dismissed, Saha did the bulk of the scoring and tired out the New Zealand bowlers. He remained unbeaten on 61 before India declared with a lead of 283. Saha, who had not kept wickets on Day Three due to a stiff neck, looked at ease and scored crucial runs when it mattered the most.
The New Zealand openers had to play out a few tricky overs before stumps. India started with the spin twins – Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel and the duo applied pressure straightaway. Ashwin even got rid of Will Young as the off-spinner tracked the youngster LBW. Young was late in reviewing the call and would’ve been saved if he reviewed the decision on time.
New Zealand finished the day on 4/1 and need 280 runs to get on the final day with nine wickets in hand.
