New Zealand on Monday defeated India by 10 wickets in the first Test match thereby taking 1-0 lead in the ongoing series. Tim Southee was declared Man Of The Match for his nine-wicket haul in the match.
The Kiwis were given a target of nine runs in their second innings to win the match. New Zealand’s opening pair Tom Latham and Tom Blundell had no problem in chasing this target and gave their side a 10-wicket victory. They took exactly 1.4 overs to secure the win for their side.
India were bowled out for 165 and 191 in their two innings. New Zealand had scored 348 in their first innings. Tim Southee, who took four wickets in the first innings, claimed a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Reacting to his side’s humiliating defeat, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said, “Toss turned out to be very important. As a batting unit we take pride in being competitive, but we weren’t. Even scoring 220-230 would’ve been good. That first innings put us behind and then the lead put us under more pressure. The bowlers toiled well, as a bowling group we’ve taken pride in being competitive. Till the first 7 NZ wickets, we were really good. Wanted to restrict the lead to under 100, but the last runs from their batsmen made things difficult. But bowlers can still be more disciplined, they were not as happy with their bowling performance. You don’t want to be too hard on guys like Shaw. He’s played just 2 overseas Tests. He will figure a way, he will find a way to score runs. Mayank applied himself well, and he’s the only other person apart from Rahane who got us any momentum with the bat. Our strength is to put big scores for our bowlers to bowl at, and that was missing in this match.”
His Kiwi counterpart Kane Williamson said, “Outstanding effort over the space of four days. We know how strong India are all around the world. The effort in the first innings and then a competitive total with the bat was great. The lower order runs are important to get a bit of a lead. So all round team effort. Didn’t know what to expect from the pitch on the morning of the Test. Because it wasn’t as windy this week, there was a bit more swing. The bowlers were brilliant but a real collective effort. Jamieson was brilliant. Through the summer, in white-ball cricket he’s been valuable. So great debut for Kyle, contributed in a number of ways. Southee’s mindset wasn’t of one with a point to prove. He just wanted to lead with the ball. Having Boult at the other end would’ve been good for him too. Left-arm, right-arm combination can be dangerous. We know India can bat for days, so the patience both of them showed was great. Blundell’s injury is alright, he said his pain level is 2/10, so that’s fairly good.”
Both sides will face each other in the second Test at Christchurch on 29 February.