India on Sunday recovered from early losses as they posed a target of 284 to New Zealand in the first Test being played in Kanpur.
India bowled out New Zealand for 296 in their first innings and took a crucial 49-run lead. The start of the second innings for the hosts wasn’t how they would have envisaged as they kept losing key batsmen on a regular basis. Five of India’s top batsmen namely Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja failed to score 50 runs amongst themselves.
It took Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha to come to rescue India’s second innings. Iyer, the centurion in the first innings, was out for 65, while Saha remained unbeaten at 61. Also chipping in with crucial 28 runs was Axar Patel, who had wreaked havoc with the ball in New Zealand’s first innings.
New Zealand faced four overs before the fourth day’s play came to an end and could score just four runs by losing the wicket of Will Young. The Kiwis will need to score 280 runs on Monday to take 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
India have already defeated the visitors 3-0 in the recently-concluded T20 series.
