Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the first Test between India and New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Play has been called off for the day. India finish the day on 122/5, Ajinkya Rahane batting on 38 and Rishabh Pant on 10.
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At Tea IND 122/5 after 55 Overs: First signs of spin. Ajaz Patel bowled with a slip and a forward short leg in place. Boult bowled from the other end. Rahane has got his eye in while Pant is slowly building his innings. Only 56 runs were added in this session for the loss of two wickets.
IND 116/5 after 50 Overs: Tim Southee and Trent Boult have not always looked threatening but Jamieson's awkward bounce and movement have caused troubles for the Indian batsmen. Rahane has made a positive start; he looks solid in defence and has picked his battles instead of going for his shots. It'll be a test of temperament for Pant, who had been warming the bench through the T20Is and ODIs. He has scored his first boundary by pulling Southee.
IND 108/5 after 45 Overs: Wicket No. 3 for Jamieson: pitches this one up around off-stump, Hanuma pushed forward and got a healthy edge back to the keeper. Vihari's dismissal brings Rishabh Pant to the crease. He has to bat big today. Jamieson has straightaway peppered the keeper-batsman with short balls. Pant is yet to get off the mark.
IND 100/4 after 40 Overs: Jamieson nearly has his third: bowls two bouncers at Vihari before bowling a full one and the right-hander is lucky the outside edge doesn't carry to gully. A short-leg in place for Vihari. But Jamieson errs in length, dishes out a half-volley at the stumps, and Hanuma leans forward, beats mid-on and collects four. India meanwhile bringing up their 100 with a little bit of luck, a well-directed bouncer from Jamieson pings Rahane on the elbow pad and runs away for four.
IND 90/4 after 35 Overs: Trent Boult, brought back into the attack, ends Agarwal's resistance. He is caught for 34. Hanuma Vihari joins Rahane. Williamson opting for attacking fields now. Southee bowling with a short mid-off and a short catching cover while Jamieson has a widish leg-slip in place.
IND 85/3 after 31 Overs: J amieson and Southee with the ball after lunch. Jamieson is getting extra bounce from short of a length. A handful of chances flew between third slip and gully in the first session, prompting the gully fielder to move finer now.
Welcome back for the afternoon session. It continues to remain overcast in Wellington, expect the Kiwi pacers to keep attacking Mayank and Ajinkya who have added 39 for the fourth wicket so far.
At Lunch IND 79/3 after 28 Overs : New Zealand elected to bowl first and the pacers have vindicated their skipper's decision. The morning belonged to Jamieson who sent Pujara and Kohli back to the dugout. Mayank Agarwal has survived so far and along with Rahane taken India to lunch.
IND 68/3 after 25 Overs: Not the best batting session from India, given these aren't exactly the most challenging playing conditions. Both Kohli and Pujara fell to well executed deliveries from Jamieson and Shaw paid the price for not being watchful. Mayank Agarwal has hung in there and has Rahane for company. India have picked Pant over Saha presumably for his batting at a venue where they could use an extra batsman. Boult and Southee are back for their second spells.
IND 49/3 after 20 Overs: What a debut this is turning out to be for Kyle Jamieson. He gets rid of Cheteshwar Pujara with one that straightens after pitching and kisses the outside edge en route to the keeper before snapping up the big man, Virat Kohli, with a fullish delivery outside off, inviting him to drive. Kohli can only edge it to Ross Taylor in the slips. Rahane joins Agarwal.
IND 35/1 after 15 Overs: Jamieson gets his Test debut off to a cracking start: bowls a maiden including a peach to Pujara that nearly got him his first Test wicket! Fuller and angled in from around off stump, the ball held its line to whistle past the edge. How did that miss the stump? de Grandhomme and Jamieson have taken over from the new ball pair of Boult and Southee.
IND 31/1 after 10 Overs: Boult's trying to bring the stumps and pad into play ... pitching the ball right up, and then letting the seam and swing do the rest. The surface isn't fast enough to trouble the batsman. Shaw only has himself to blame here: a great opportunity to prove his mettle in testing conditions but without any footwork, he was eventually going to get a ball with his name on it. Pujara, meanwhile, is happy to shoulder arms to the away going deliveries. And when he does play at those, he is doing it with soft hands while playing the ball right under his eyes.
IND 18/1 after 5 Overs: Southee cleans up Prithvi Shaw with a beauty. Shaw's lack of footwork against the moving ball has brought his downfall. Southee bowls a fullish outswinger, on middle and off, and Shaw is undone as he tries to work it to the leg-side. Cheteshwar Pujara joins Mayank Agarwal.
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TOSS UPDATE: New Zealand has won the toss and decided to bowl first. Meanwhile, it has started to drizzle in Wellington.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling(w), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult
India (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Taylor on his 100th cap: "Had a great cap presentation. Good friend and mentor Ian Smith said a few words. Will need some help drinking the 100 wines I received for each Test. Keeps the tradition from Fleming, Vettori and Brendon going (where they received the wines too)."
There is grass on this Basin Reserve surface and the New Zealand pacemen will be relentless in their quest for scalps. A windy morning with overcast conditions in New Zealand at the moment. What do you make of the pitch?
STAT ALERT: Virat Kohli is 11 runs short of overtaking former skipper Sourav Ganguly to become the fifth highest run scorer for India in the longest format.
Kyle Jamieson is likely to make his Test debut, bowling alongside Trent Boult and Tim Southee after left-arm seamer Neil Wagner withdrew from the team on Wednesday.
The Indian skipper is gung-ho about his pace pack where Ishant Sharma appears to have put fitness troubles behind. The Indian captain said, “He looked pretty similar to how he was bowling before the ankle injury and was hitting good areas. Really good to see him bowling with pace. He has the experience too.”
Form guide
(last five completed matches)
India WWWWW
New Zealand LLLDW
There is a covering of grass on the pitch for the forthcoming first Test and the two teams should be close to being bowled out in their first innings by day two.
It’s in the second innings as the surface eases out that the real game begins. There is less deviation off the track for the seamers, the pitch becomes slower and runs flow off the blade.
Then it boils down to strategy and the execution of plans. The strong wind, who bowls with and against it, could be critical to the outcome.
This said, the surface for the India-New Zealand game, a part of the World Test Championship, could be different in character. Full preview here| Ind vs NZ
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