Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal registered history on Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington. He became the second Indian opener and first in 30 years to survive the first session of a Test match in New Zealand. The last Indian opener who was able to achieve such feat was Manoj Prabhakar in 1990.
30 years ago, veteran Prabhakar had managed to achieve the same in the 2nd Test in Napier against Kiwis, when he smashed 95 off 268 balls in India’s first innings.
Meanwhile, Agarwal survived the first session against the quality bowling from Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and debutant Kyle Jamieson along with the windy conditions. Batsmen like Prithvi Shaw (16), Cheteshwar Pujara (11), and skipper Virat Kohli (2) around him lost their wickets, but Agarwal stayed firm and took India to 79/3 at Lunch.
However, despite surviving for so long, the Karnataka-born did lose his momentum and failed to capitalize on his hard and fighting knock. Agarwal fell for 34 off 84 balls when he tried to play a short ball bowled by Boult and gave a catch to Jamieson, who didn’t lose the opportunity.
Rain washed out the third session, and at the end of the day’s play, India reached 122/5 with Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant remained not out on 38 and 10, respectively.
