Ind 283-5 after 78 overs
Kohli 93, Dhoni 46
That’s it. Close of play and India have managed to come out of it in a much better state then they would have imagined after they being reduced to 4 wickets down for 80. Kohli continues to impress with every knock in the middle — truth to be said, he is looking like a very special player right now. Sehwag and Raina chipped in with cameos but never looked convincing. Dhoni has looked steady as well but India aren’t out of the woods just yet — they will have to bat last.
Ind 264-5 after 73 overs
Kohli 80, Dhoni 41
Still some time left in the day but India are looking pretty settled right now. Another big partnership between Kohli and Dhoni has ensured that the second innings will be a battle for both sides.
Ind 244-5 after 64 overs
Kohli 69, Dhoni 33
This is where New Zealand’s collapse in the first innings will start to hurt them. India are inching closer and the pressure is starting to add up.
Ind 214-5 after 57 overs
Kohli 51, Dhoni 21
Nice, composed knock by Kohli. He seems to know what he is doing and that’s really impressive. He got to his fifth Test fifty in 100 balls with 6 fours and 1 six. India trail by 151 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.
Ind 202-5 after 54 overs
Kohli 42, Dhoni 19
Dhoni goes for the shots as well. Two consecutive sixes off Patel show just how he wants to play today — this could be exciting but India need him to play a long innings today.
Ind 179-5 after 50.3 overs
Raina c Van Wyk b Southee 55
Doug Bracewell has been superb for NZ. AP
This was going to happen. Once again, Raina just doesn’t look like a Test batsman. He can hit the odd good shot and look really good while doing it but he isn’t good enough. Just isn’t. And once again, he managed to get out down the leg side.
Ind 168-4 after 47 overs
Kohli 31, Raina 51
It’s tea. India have their backs to the wall but are fighting back through Kohli and Raina. Raina launched a fierce counter-attack in the session after India lost Tendulkar and Sehwag early.
Ind 168-4 after 46 overs
Kohli 31, Raina 51
Finally. It took 51 from 79 balls and for almost three overs, he was stuck on 49. Good knock under pressure but he has had his chances as well. India, however, needed him to play this knock badly. Kohli at the other end has looked much more secure.
Ind 159-4 after 42 overs
Kohli 28, Raina 49
Raina has slowed down quite a bit but Kohli is now starting to get stuck in. The partnership is already worth 78 runs in 18.3 overs. Quite an impressive fightback, but a lot more needs to be done. Raina was stumped in the last over but was saved because Jeetan Patel had just bowled a no-ball. Lucky.
In case you are wondering that he should still be out, read this.
Ind 139-4 after 35 overs
Kohli 14, Raina 43
This is some pretty crazy stuff. Kohli started off the 35th over with a six and then Raina followed it up with 2 fours. India still trail by 226 runs with 6 wickets remaining but this is exciting stuff, at least the home team isn’t going down without a fight.
Ind 119-4 after 31 overs
Kohli 2, Raina 35
Six. Inside out, over extra cover — by the time, the shot finished, Raina was down on one knee and it was a picture perfect shot. Raina has needed just 33 balls to get to 35 and he has hit 6 fours and 1 six.
Ind 98-4 after 26 overs
Kohli 0, Raina 18
Raina decides to go the Ross Taylor way — comes out and smashes three consecutive fours. It’s a risky strategy but batting in the middle isn’t exactly at it’s easiest.
Ind 80-4 after 23.3 overs
SR Tendulkar b Bracewell 17 (50b, 3×4)
Sachin Tendulkar was out bowled once again. Reuters
Just one ball back, Tendulkar had smashed a classy straight drive — the one that Sehwag loves so much. Then Bracewell pitched another one, Tendulkar went for the drive, the ball moved just enough to sneak through bat and bat and crash into the stumps. Bowled him.
Ind 67-3 after 21 overs
V Sehwag c Flynn b Bracewell 43 (60b, 8×4)
Lunch break is over and India have already lost Sehwag. Massive blow. No chance for him to get set, he was caught well at square-leg. Flynn dived to his right and took a good, sharp catch. Virat Kohli is in next.
Ind 67-2 after 21 overs
Sehwag 39, Tendulkar 4
And that’s lunch. Quite an interesting first session. India got the remaining four NZ wickets quickly to restrict the visitors to 365. But it wasn’t exactly for the batsmen too. Gambhir went early and a good bouncer got Pujara. Sehwag has looked steady but he has lived dangerously as always.
Ind 63-2 after 20 overs
Sehwag 39, Tendulkar 4
India trail by 302 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings. It’s been slow and steady but that’s how it needs to be. India can’t really afford to lose any more wickets and it’s starting to get pretty dark once again.
Ind 55-2 after 16 overs
Sehwag 35, Tendulkar 4
Sehwag’s second four of the over brought up India’s 50. He looks like he has had enough — is going to play his shots now. Expect the run-rate to pick up now. But Ross Taylor’s captaincy continues to disappoint — the ball has been going through the slips and the conditions are overcast but he just hasn’t had enough people in the slips.
Ind 40-2 after 13 overs
Sehwag 20, Tendulkar 4
Tendulkar got off the mark with nice well-timed four on the leg-side but it’s been anything but easy going for the Indian batsmen. It’s got a bit brighter in Bangalore but the lights are still on.
Ind 27-2 after 10 overs
CA Pujara c Boult b Southee 9 (17b, 1×4)
Done in by a bouncer. The ball was climbing on the batsman and well directed. Pujara decided to go for the hook shot anyway, but had absolutely no control. Sachin Tendulkar is in next.
Ind 22-1 after 7 overs
Sehwag 15, Pujara 5
In recent times, Sehwag has spoken about how he is looking to respect the new ball before going after the bowler. He is doing pretty much the same today. It’s actually quite scary for the opposition to see him do that though. Pujara has looked solid.
Ind 5-1 after 3.4 overs
G Gambhir b Southee 2 (12b)
Gambhir doesn’t quite know where his off-stump is anymore. It’s sad and for an opener, deadly. He wants to avoid edging it, tried to leave but the ball kissed the bail. Gone. Pujara is in next, the lights are on and the skies are dark.
Ind 4-0 after 2.2 overs
Sehwag 3, Gambhir 1
Sehwag will be ready to give NZ bowlers the treatment. Getty Images
DROPPED! Gambhir, hangs his bat outside the off-stump once again, gets the edge, dropped by McCullum at third slip! This is a habit that Gambhir needs to get out of! And dropping catches is a habit that NZ need to get out of — they dropped plenty of catches at Hyderabad as well.
NZ 365 all out after 90.1 overs
T Southee lbw b Ojha 14 (11b, 2×4, 1×6)
NZ all out for 365. Ojha gets a five-wicket haul. He trapped Southee lbw, the ball pitched in line and then straightened. No doubt about that decision. Great morning for India — it took less than 10 overs to wrap things up. This was Ojha’s third five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
NZ will come out to bowl, thinking they haven’t done enough. They were in a great position and should have got at least 400. Two wickets for Zaheer, one each for Umesh and Ashwin. Taylor led the Kiwi charge with 113, Guptill scored 53, van Wyk made 71.
NZ 353-9 after 88.2 overs
J Patel c Gambhir b Yadav 0 (2b)
Another wicket! Slightly short, Patel tried to play a nothing shot really, got caught at third man. Looks like 400 isn’t quite going to happen for the Kiwis.
NZ 353-8 after 88 overs
DAJ Bracewell run out 43 (79b, 6×4)
Ball smashed back, Zaheer gets finger to it, Bracewell falls! Stroke of good luck for India — not so good for the Kiwis though. Great innings by Bracewell, he showed a lot of fight and this should help him in his career as well — another allrounder in the mould of Richard Hadlee and Dan Vettori.
NZ 345-7 after 86 overs
K van Wyk c Raina b Khan 71 (100b, 9×4)
Gone! Zaheer gets the outside edge and Raina takes a good catch at second slip tp send back Van Wyk for 71. The partnership between Van Wyk and Bracewell was 99.
NZ 341-7 after 83 overs
Van Wyk 67, Bracewell 39
New Zealand’s Kruger Van Wyk has looked in superb touch. Reuters
The cracks are starting to open up on the Bangalore pitch and that might play a big role later in the match. But that is also one of the reasons why India need to run through the New Zealand batting line-up. Ross Taylor’s brilliant century means that the run-rate of the New Zealand innings is quite good, they can afford to bat normally. Van Wyk has looked very much in control and Bracewell has shown the talent to become a pretty good allrounder.
Day 1
Captain Ross Taylor launched a stunning counter-attack with a blistering 113 as New Zealand showed great fighting spirit to recover from early jolts in the second cricket Test here today.
Taylor notched up his seventh Test century to pull his team out of trouble and guide the Kiwis to a respectable 328 for six on the opening day before bad light stopped play at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
It was a vastly improved batting display by the Kiwis who were bundled out cheaply in both the innings in the massive defeat in the first Test in Hyderabad.
Read the full match report here.
