Kanpur, Nov 28, : .ShreyasIyer made his debut Test match memorable by scoring 65 in the second innings.
India won 167/7 at tea on Sunday’s fourth Test against New Zealand at Green Park Stadium. Just as India was about to end the second session on a high note, Iyer was ejected by Tim Southee.
This left the match interestingly poised with hosts holding a lead of 218.
India started the second session with a strong start.Ravichandran Ashwin and Iyer continued to score boundaries, making their partnership the sixth wicket.Kyle Jamieson struck with the second ball of his first run, ending Ashwin’s gritty stay at his crease.
His back of a length delivery rolled to the stumps after it bounced off his front pad.
New Zealand held on tight after Ashwin’s fall.Wriddhiman Sha took a four and six (sweep-sweep) from William Somerville in his 49th over.Iyer, who was careful while rotating and defending the strike, came out to smash Ajaz Ptel for a six down.Iyer reached his half-century after 109 balls.He became the first Indian batter with a century in the first innings.
Iyer continued his impressive performance by hitting two boundaries against Patel, as New Zealand’s spinners were unable to penetrate India’s spinners.Iyer smashed the first ball through the middle wicket against Southee.
The 64-run stand came to an abrupt halt at the end of tea with the loss of the next ball.Iyer tried pulling Southee, but an inner edge of the glove fell behind to Blundell, ending a great knock.
In the 19.4 overs that followed, New Zealand had made significant inroads into India’s batting and left them at 51/5.New Zealand were a bit loose, so Cheteshwar Pujara & Mayank Agarwal contributed 18 runs to the overnight score of 14/1.
The tourists quickly corrected themselves as Kyle Jamieson took out Pujara in the 12th over with a short ball down leg.He gloved behind keeper Tom Blundell.New Zealand reviewed the decision, which was later overturned after replays confirmed that the glove edge was correct.
Ajinkya Rahane drove Ajaz Ptel through extra cover in 15 overs.Patel got the last laugh when he caught Rahane in the wicket with a quick slider.
Shreyas and Mayank Agarwal each hit a streaky boundary until Tim Southee joined them in the wicket-taking celebration.
Southee was rewarded in the 20th over for his persistent streak with a double-wicket maiden.Agarwal was first attracted to Southee’s attention.He then forced a thick outer edge from his bat to the second slip.Tom Latham completed the catch.
Two balls later, Southee caught Ravindra Jadeja with an inswinger to duck.Jadeja accepted the review, but replays showed that the ball crashed into the leg-stump.
Brief Scores: India 345 runs (ShreyasIyer 105; Tim Southee 5/69), and 167/7 in 60.2 innings (ShreyasIyer 65, Ravichandran Ashwin 32, Kyle Jamieson 3/26; Tim Southee 3/48).New Zealand 296 runs in 142.3 overs.(Tom Latham 95, Axar Patel 5/62).India leads by 216 runs.
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