It will surely take a monumental effort from Kane Williamson’s brigade to have a chance of winning their first Test in India in 33 years. Chasing a huge total of 284 on a Day 5 Kanpur pitch that will keep low and favour the spinners, New Zealand will need a similar opening partnership as first innings. After a batting collapse in first session with new ball, half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha put India in the driver’s seat. Furthermore, early wicket of Will Young off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling turned out to be another setback for them as Kiwi could score only four runs in four overs.
Statistics that matter
A piece of statistics that will haunt the visitors is that no team has successfully chased down a target of 150-plus in the fourth innings against India. Also, the highest target chased successfully by a visiting team in India against India is 286 by West Indies in 1987. On the other hand, New Zealand’s highest successful run chase of 324 came against Pakistan in 1993/94 series.
Game-changing counter-attack
It was the counter-attack of debutant Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin in the first session that helped India play out the new ball and get some runs on the board. As India were reduced to 51/5 in the first session, Iyer and Ashwin decided that they need to put some runs on the board instead of blocking each delivery. They shared a 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket but the lead was not enough to put pressure on Kiwis.
Saha’s gritty fifty, Iyer’s massive record
After Ashwin, Saha who did not keep wickets on Day 3 due to stiff neck walked out to bat. The wicketkeeper-batter provided support from the other end as Iyer went on to score his half-century. The 26-year-old became the first Indian batter to score a century and a half-century on Test debut. The two shared a 64-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
In the second innings, Axar Patel did not get out cheaply too and provided much-needed support to get a big total on board. Saha received some on-field treatment in the drinks break of third session and battled through the pain to score his first half-century after four years. He remained unbeaten for 61 off 126 deliveries including four fours and one six. On the other end, Patel remained not out for 28 runs off 67 deliveries.