Bengaluru: Opener Devon Conway dazzled with his eye-catchy boundaries before falling nine runs short of a century as New Zealand ended day two’s play in the first Test against India at 180/3 in 50 overs and lead by 134 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
After bowling out India for 46 – their lowest total at home in Tests and third lowest overall in the format, thanks to Matt Henry’s 5-15 and William O’Rourke’s 4-22, New Zealand were ushered into the lead, thanks to Conway’s knock, with the highlight being his takedown of Indian spinners.
He hit 11 fours and three sixes in his 91 off 105 balls before being castled by Ravichandran Ashwin. At stumps, which came a little earlier due to bad light, Rachin Ravindra (22 not out) and Darly Mitchell (14 not out) ensured New Zealand continued to swell their lead and set themselves up for a mammoth day three.
Resuming from 82/1 in the final session, Will Young began by firmly hitting four boundaries off Kuldeep Yadav. The misery increased on India as captain Rohit Sharma put down tough chances twice at slip of Conway and Young off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling.
It was followed by the team giving Young a life when a throw went to the wrong end and Rishabh Pant hobbling off the field after being hit on side of right knee by a sharply spinning in delivery from Jadeja, which evaded Conway’s attempted drive, with Dhruv Jurel taking keeping duties.
Conway then showed his solidness on the front foot and back foot by hitting Kuldeep for six and four, before Young gave a top-edge on a sweep off Jadeja to fine leg and fall for 33. Three overs later, Ashwin struck when Conway went for a pre-mediated sweep, but got into a tangle and saw the fuller ball rattle the stumps. Ravindra and Mitchell looked impressive in their stay at the crease before stumps came on a great day of Test cricket for England.
Brief Scores: India 46 in 31.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 20; Matt Henry 5-15) trail New Zealand 180/3 in 50 overs (Devon Conway 91; Ravindra Jadeja 1-28) by 134 runs
–IANS