Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - Live Cricket Score - India vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 1, Mumbai. Mayank Agarwal put on a show on the opening day.
Mayank Agarwal put on a show on the opening day.
India 151 for 3 …
50-run stand
India went from 80 for no loss to 80 for 3 and are now are 131 for 3. Iyer and Mayank have a half-century stand and the latter is looking in very good touch. Two consecutive boundaries have put Ajaz under pressure. India again finding it ease to score and New Zealand once again left needing a bit of magic.
Tea – Day 1
Ajaz Patel bagged all three wickets to fall in the session to reduce India to 111 for 3. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara bagged ducks after India opted to bat and the openers stitched an 80-run stand.
Damp patches ensured the toss was delayed and no play was possible in the opening session. For the opening two hours of the Test, India bossed proceedings as the openers put on a solid show after taking first strike. Shubman Gill picked three boundaries in the second over by Kyle Jamieson as India scored 20 in the opening four overs. Tim Southee managed things tight but Tom Latham was forced to take Jamieson out after the first six.
The introduction of Ajaz not only brought control but also helped teams get a good idea of how the surface is going to behave as the Test goes on. The left-arm spinner was able to get the ball to grip and turn but both Gill and Mayank were equally effective in nullifying any threat. The pair brought up the half-century stand in the 19th over as Will Somerville struggled to create any impact.
Things, however, dramatically changed in the 28th over. Gill had struck Somerville for two fours in the previous over and was looking to take on the spinners. On the second ball, he came down the track and was beaten by the turn as Tom Blundell missed a stumping opportunity. On the next delivery, Gill stayed put and poked at the delivery to be caught at first slip. In Ajaz's next over, Pujara came down the track and missed the full ball to be bowled for a five-ball duck.
Kohli's dismissal proved to be even more dramatic. Adjudged lbw, the India captain decided to challenge the call. After several replays, the third umpire – Virender Sharma – failed to find any conclusive evidence that Kohli had hit the ball before it brushed the pad. He then went on to tell the on-field umpire – Anil Chaudhary – to stick with his original decision only to be reminded that he forgot to check ball-tracking. The replay showed three reds and India not only lost the review but in space of four balls two big wickets.
New Zealand, however, failed to capitalise on the three wickets. India went from 80 for no loss to 80 for 3 but Mayank put Ajaz under pressure with a six and a four to get the runs flowing again. Southee leaked four byes and then was driven by Shreyas Iyer past cover in the 33rd to leak 10. Ajaz leaked another boundary before Mayank brought up his half-century in the final over before Tea to give India the nudge ahead after a shaky period.
Drama!
Ducks for Pujara and Kohli. Ajaz Patel has turned this game in New Zealand's favour. First Pujara's dismissal – he came down the track and missed the full ball to et bowled. The drama started with Kohli's dismissal. He was given lbw but the India captain went for the review. After several attempts, the third umpire couldn't find any conclusive evidence that Kohli had hit the ball before it hit the pad. The third umpire then asked the on-field umpire to stay with his decision only to be reminded that he failed to check ball-tracking. Three reds. India lose Kohli, two wickets and a review.
India 80 for 3
Ajaz strikes
Two balls, two chances and finally a wicket for New Zealand. Gill had advanced down the wicket and was beaten by the spin but Blundell missed the stumping opportunity. Gill stayed put on the next delivery and poked at the delivery only to edge it to first slip. He falls for 44.
India 80 for 1
50-run stand
This has been a pretty solid performance from both Indian openers. They've got a half-century stand and haven't been troubled a lot. Ajaz Patel has got the ball to grip the surface and turn and there were a few balls that has spun past the outside edge but these two have managed things pretty well.
Bharat Sundaresan @beastieboy07 This is the third straight away Test tour that Tom Latham has captained the @BLACKCAPS in a Test I'd say. At the SCG in 2020, Birmingham in 2021 and now Mumbai #IndvNZ 07:01 AM • Dec 12, 2021
Positive start
Five overs done and India have eased to 21 for no loss. Four boundaries in the opening two overs – three by Gill against Jamieson in the second over – and it's helped the side make a solid start.
TOSS – India opt to bat, Jayant, Siraj come in; NZ bring in Daryl Mitchell
India: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand: Tom Latham(c), Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell(w), Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, William Somerville, Ajaz Patel.
All set for toss? According to you, who's replacing Jadeja?
UPDATE – Toss at 1130am IST; match to start at 12noon
JUST IN – Kane Williamson ruled out of the Test; Latham will lead New Zealand.
India team news – Ishant Sharma (dislocated finger), Ravindra Jadeja (swelling on his forearm) and Ajinkya Rahane (minor left hamstring strain) will not feature in the Test in Mumbai.
Next inspection at 1030am IST.
Amol Karhadkar @karhacter Umpires seem to have realised that the run-up is not yet ideal. The curator is SOSed. The inspection continues #INDvNZ @sportstarweb @TheHinduSports 04:01 AM • Dec 12, 2021
TOSS DELAYED – An inspection will be held at 930am IST. There are a few wet patches.
In case you are wondering about the weather, it's overcast for now but there's no rain. The players are out and warming up for the contest …
Mohandas Menon @mohanstatsman Despite yesterday's rain, the ground at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, ahead of the deciding Test match looks pristine. #INDvsNZ #INDvNZ #NZvInd #NZvsInd 07:41 AM • Dec 12, 2021
Hello and welcome to the live blog of the opening day of the second Test between India and New Zealand in Mumbai. Before we get going, why don't you have an early morning read? Here's Vijay Tagore's preview for the game –
Stats, as we know, reveal less and hide more. But not this one, perhaps. Between Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the chief oxygen suppliers of Indian batting for nearly a decade, there's only one century in 82 innings – 104 at the MCG in December 2020 being the odd knockout. That is not analogous to an underachievement for a trio which has 57 Test centuries among them. That is a collective disaster.
Pujara has gone without a century in 40 innings, Rahane for 21 innings and so has the indefatigable Kohli, whose last three-figure knock was 136 against Bangladesh in Kolkata two years ago. The continued barren spell of the three in the middle order has been inversely proportional to the team's success elsewhere that has lifted them to No. 1 Test ranking (currently No. 2) for a long time. It is time they made changes to the batting order.
A former member of Indian coaching staff has confided to Cricbuzz that attempts were made to change the complexion of the middle order recently in England itself.
However, now with Kohli coming in, logically, the middle order composition will look different in the second and final Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede, starting on Friday (December 3) but will the team management do what the previous management had contemplated, but did not? Some experts, VVS Laxman for instance, has suggested that the team management should drop Mayank Agarwal and push Pujara to the top to accommodate Kohli, coming back after rest, and retain newcomer Shreyas Iyer, the centurion in the drawn Kanpur Test.
It may not be a sound idea to do away with a specialist opener and more vitally the opportunity must not be frittered to ring in changes to the Test batting. If actually the team management strides that path, Pujara may be the one to sit out, Rahane escaping the axe only for having led the side in the previous Test. Captain yesterday and out today does not make for a great billboard, does it? He will be playing his first Test at home ground, by the way.
One alluring prospect for the hosts – who have remained unbeaten in 13 series at home — is the look of the Wankhede in the mornings could be reminiscent of good things for the skipper. Kohli had scored a double century the last time he had played a Test here – 235 against England in 2016.
A century from the skipper is not only long overdue but much-awaited too, and that could change the fortunes of the team against New Zealand, who have consolidated their reputation as the bogey team for India of late and had recorded their last Test win on the Indian soil at this very ground – in 1988.
