Black Caps set a tough target against India on Day 5
Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha struck half centuries on Sunday before India declared their second innings 234-7 on day four of the First Test. Iyer scored 65 while Saha was unbeaten at 61 as they revived the Indian innings from a precarious 51-5.
At Stumps, New Zealand was 4-1 with Tom Latham at 2 and William Sommerville at zero after losing Will Young (2) shortly before the end of the game. Previously, India had hit 84-5 at lunch after Kyle Jamieson (3-40) and Tim Southee (3-75) finished India's top order that morning.
Cheteshwar Pujara (22) took off his gloves on Jamieson's leg. Southee caught Mayank Agarwal (17) on slip and then caught Ravindra Jadeja lbw for free. Azaj Patel (1-60) caught Ajinkya Rahane (4) lbw to bring India down from 14-1 to 51-5 after the fourth day started. Then Iyer put in 52 runs for the sixth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin (32) on either side of lunch and saved the Indian innings.
After his debut hundred in the first innings, Iyer's half-century came in the second innings of 125 deliveries, including eight fours and one six. Sunil Gavaskar became the last Indian batsman to score over 50 in both innings of his debut test, a feat he did against the West Indies in 1971.
“In this situation I was already at home cricket. My mindset was to play the session and play as many balls as possible. I wasn't thinking too far ahead, ”said Iyer. He was also the first Indian batsman to score a century and a half on his Test debut.“It feels good (to have this record) but the most important thing is to win the game ... We thought 250 would have been a good number including the first innings lead, so we're very happy with that where we are now. ”“ Iyer added.
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Jamieson bowled Ashwin after India crossed 100. Iyer then added 64 runs with Saha as they helped India hit a reasonable amount. Southee fired Iyer before tea when India hit 167-7 at break. Saha scored his sixth half-century Test, setting up 67 runs with Axar Patel (28 not out) for the eighth wicket.
India declared with little time in the day, but Ashwin managed to remove young before stumps. The ball appeared to be missing a leg, but the batsman ran out of time to do a DRS check. New Zealand needed 280 runs to win on the last day. India scored 345 in the first innings thanks to Iyers 105 and New Zealand were knocked out with 296 in response when Axar Patel won 5-62 on day three.