The 25-year lanky Kyle Jamieson took his maiden five-for as New Zealand dominated India in the opening day of second Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Riding on his 5 for 45, the hosts bowled Virat Kohli and Co. out for a below-par score of 242 and then batted for rest of the day without any damage. At Stumps on Saturday (February 29) the Blackcaps were 63 for no loss in 23 overs, trailing India by 179 runs.
Earlier in the day the start of the match was delayed by 45 minutes due to some early morning rain and wet outfield. And after losing the toss and batting first on a greenish track the Indian batsmen showed intent but their reckless shot selection in the middle overs triggered yet another downfall.
After losing Mayank Agarwal early Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries to take the fight to the rival camp. However, in the post-Lunch session, India lost its captain and vice-captain in quick successions. Kohli’s poor tour just got worse when Tim Southee got one to shape in slightly finding him plumb in-front whereas Ajinkya Rahane was undone by a sharp out-swinger.
Later Hanuma Vihari’s (55 off 70 balls) dismissal at the stroke of tea tilted the scale in New Zealand’s favour as they took last six wickets for just 48 runs.
For the Kiwis, barring Jamieson Trent Boult and Tim Southee got two wickets a piece whereas Neil Wagner, who was picked in the XI ahead of a frontline spinner, got one scalp.
The fantastic bowling performance was followed by a solid opening stand by Tom Latham (27 batting) and Tom Blundell (29 batting) as they batted out rest of the day.
Brief scores:
India 242 (Hanuma Vihari 55, Prithvi Shaw 54, Cheteshwar Pujara 54; Kyle Jamieson 5-45) lead New Zealand 63/0 (Tom Blundell 29*, Tom Latham 27*) by 179 runs.