New Zealand reached 63-0 at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test against India at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday. Openers Tom Latham and Tom Blundell managed to survive the last session and remained unbeaten for 27 and 29, respectively. Indian bowling unit missed Ishant Sharma a lot who injured his ankle ahead of the second contest.
The Toms take us to the close 63/0 and 179 behind at Hagley Oval. Scorecard | https://t.co/z3Er2dXVK3 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/HJfBQa2yaN
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 29, 2020
Earlier, Kiwi speedster Kyle Jamieson ripped apart the Indian batting and claimed his career’s maiden five-wicket haul. Just like the first Test, the visitors failed to perform up to the mark. New opener Prithvi Shaw (54) did impress with his counter-attack strategy and became the second-youngest Indian batsman to smash a half-century in New Zealand.
India captain Virat Kohli continued his poor show and yet again got out cheaply. Kohli was trapped plumb in front as Tim Southee got him at 3. Surprisingly, the 31-year-old went for a DRS, and no wonder his decision to take a review was criticized heavily on social media.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane too fell to a poor stroke, and all of a sudden, India had gone from 80 for 2 to 113 for 4 and were in danger of a collapse. However, Cheteshwar Pujara (54) and Hanuma Vihari (55) took the side out of trouble and stitched a crucial 81-run stand.
At that stage, India were looking settled, but then Vihari played a rash shot and allowed the hosts to come back in the game. The 26-year-old went for a pull and gloved the ball to the wicket-keeper.
Soon after, Pujara too lost his concentration and almost threw his wicket away. Out of nowhere, the Rajkot-born tried to whack the short and wide delivery from Jamieson, which carried a top edge and was caught by BJ Watling. After Pujara’s dismissal, the remaining batsmen could only add 45 more runs to the total.
