Watch cricket video highlights of New Zealand tour of India 2024. First test between India and New Zealand. Venue of the match will be Bengaluru.
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We were glad we waited until New Zealand. Eventually, on day two in Bengaluru, on their seventh day of Test cricket in India this year, New Zealand took to the field but lost a fine toss. India was bowled out for 46, their lowest total at home and third-lowest overall, by New Zealand’s seam bowlers after they were denied the opportunity to bat first under gloomy skies on a surface that had been covered all week. After a side choose to bat, this first-inning score was the fourth-lowest in Test history.
Conditions had quietened down a bit and New Zealand had amassed a lead of 134 by stumps, riding on Devon Conway’s ingenious 91. Seven wickets were in hand for them. It’s likely that both parties misinterpreted the circumstances. Despite the cloudy skies and the rainy days leading up to the Test, India chose to bat first after winning the toss and selecting three spinners. Despite their desire to bat first, New Zealand had hedged their chances by playing three seamers, including the man who dominated these conditions, Matt Henry, who finished with a five-for that brought him to 100 Test wickets.
The ball was moving more than either side had anticipated as early as the first two overs. Although they initially just had the two slips, New Zealand strengthened the cordon. India was no longer reacting pre-series mentally, as they had demonstrated in difficult circumstances in England in 2021, but rather impulsively. And the natural reaction was to strike back. Tim Southee had been pushing Jaiswal, but he played the first wayward drive to only the 12th ball he encountered.
After narrowly avoiding being leg before wicket (LBW) shouted off by Henry during the umpire’s call, Rohit Sharma attempted to attack Southee and loft him back over his head. The wobble-seam ball abruptly returned to grasp the upper part of the leg stump. Due to a stiff neck, Shubman Gill was unable to play, hence Virat Kohli rose to the No. 3 spot for the first time since 2016. Although it took guts for Kohli to step up, KL Rahul, the only Asian opener with hundreds in Australia, England, and South Africa, is now ranked No. 6, and may be the batsman most suited to seaming conditions.
As it happened, Will O’Rourke’s height prevented Kohli from having the opportunity to make an error or demonstrate application, as the ninth ball he faced jagged back in and kicked at him. Glenn Phillips, whose presence at the leg slip suggested a scheme, slipped the glove off and dove forward. Sarfaraz Khan entered at No. 4, which is at least one position higher than the one he occupies in domestic cricket, causing yet another batting-order surprise.
His effort at an overhead drive on the rise was successful in just three balls, and Conway made a brilliant catch at mid-off by diving to his right and collecting it deep behind his body. A well-deserved prize for Henry, who in the first session averaged a seam movement of 1.3 degrees. At 13 for 3 after 12.4 overs without a boundary, rain briefly stopped play. After the interval, India had some luck when Tom Blundell failed to pick up a simple six from Rishabh Pant and other wayward strokes did not result in wickets.
In the end, Jaiswal’s middle-cut shot proved to be the decisive factor as he fell for 13 off 63, of which he was in control of just 42, rather than a taxing delivery. After lunch, there was a rapid succession of wickets as luck turned. Six minutes before lunch, Rahul stole a ball from O’Rourke down the leg side. Ravindra Jadeja then delivered a leading edge with an amazing flip to produce what turned out to be the final ball of the session. But Henry was far from finished.
After one bounced at him and struck him, Jasprit Bumrah did not feel like sitting around, so he gave O’Rourke his fourth wicket with a full-speed run to his left from fine leg. Henry owes his five-for to Michael Bracewell, the replacement who got Kuldeep’s wicket by diving to his left at gully. With the sun shining and the ball moving at a slower pace than in the morning, India’s innings lasted only 31.2 overs, with an average seam movement of 0.87 degrees. Their bowlers could extract only about 0.65 degrees in the first 31.2 overs, by which time New Zealand had reached 111 for 1.
In that 31.2 overs, New Zealand played just 36 false shots; India were bowled out to 75. It was the perfect storm for India. At this time, Conway in particular drove home the advantage. Due to their selection, India had to start spinning early, and before the ball could benefit the spinners, Conway attacked Ashwin. He charged at the spinners and swept, reverse-swept, and drove anything too full from the quicks. The fact that India wasted three opportunities in the slips—Rahul dropped the ball once, and Rohit blew a half-chance and an opportunity to his right off Jadeja—did not help.
Pant also failed to make two stumpings. None of the recipients survived till stumps. Rohit made up for it with a gully for Jadeja, which drew a big sweep from Will Young, resulting in a catch at short fine leg. Conway had bossed Ashwin with the new ball, but was bowled nine short of a hundred when trying to welcome him back with a reverse-sweep. The ball was now misbehaving enough for the spinners to provide some justification for India selecting three of them. It also emphasized the importance of New Zealand defending its lead in the fourth inning. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell took the first step toward that goal by surviving the final 10.5 overs of the day.
