Poor light has forced a slightly early end to Day 1 of the Kanpur Test between India and New Zealand with the hosts scoring 258/4.
There were three half centuries for India on the day with opener Shubman Gill starting the innings strong, but it eventually was Test debutant Shyeras Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja's half centuries–and their 113 run partnership– that helped India go past 200 and post a solid total.
For New Zealand, Kyle Jamieson was the pick of the bowlers with his haul of 3/47 that included the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane.
Earlier, stand-in Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first this morning. With Rohit Sharma sitting out of the series and KL Rahul ruled out due to an injury, Shubman and Mayank Agarwal opened for the hosts.
Gill survived a chance in the third over as Southee had him lbw but the right-hander got to reverse the decision as replays showed a big inside edge.
Jamieson, who constantly probed the off-stump channel, got his first wicket on Indian soil as Mayank Agarwal (13) nicked behind to keeper Tom Blundell in the eighth over.
Post Agarwal's fall, Gill saw off the tricky period from Southee and Jamieson. He had luck on his side at six in escaping an lbw shout in the first over of Ajaz Patel. From there, he tore into Patel, taking him for four fours and oozed confidence in smashing the left-arm spinner for a straight six. Pujara, on the other hand, kept playing the second fiddle while seeing an impressive Gill attack from the other end.
Kyle Jamieson though gave New Zealand the big breakthrough in the first over after Lunch, sending back a settled Shubman Gill.
The young batter lasted all of five deliveries after Lunch before he edged one straight into the stumps. Out on 52, after scoring his fourth Test half century earlier in the day.
That 61-run partnership was following by the 24-run partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara before Tim Southee gave New Zealand their third wicket of the day. Southee got the number three batter to edge one onto wicket-keeper Blundell as Pujara got out on an 88-ball 23. At the fall of his wicket, India's score read 106/3 with debutant Shreyas Iyer walking out to join skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
Post Pujara's dismissal, Rahane hit some crisp boundaries through the off-side, with the one through cover off Jamieson being the standout. But in the 50th over, the tall pacer had the last laugh as Rahane chopped onto his stumps, undone by the low bounce.
Iyer, who was almost caught out while going for a big shot early in the innings, got two boundaries and survived a close lbw shout off off-spinner William Somerville as well. He and Jadeja have a huge task on their hands as the went for Tea at 154/4.
Returning for the final session, both batters continued to pile on the pressure as Iyer first reached his half century and then Jadeja too followed as they remained unbeaten on 75 and 50 as India ended the day at 258/4.
Rahane Won The Toss
Both India and New Zealand have one debutant in their teams with Shreyas Iyer being handed his first Test cap by Sunil Gavaskar earlier today. Left-arm spin all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, who featured in the T20I series earlier, has also been given his Test debut.
After winning the toss, Rahane said he expects the pitch to play well at the start and then get the spinners into the equation. "Pitch looks really good. Generally slows down later on here. Shreyas is making his debut. We are all excited to play under the new coaching staff. I personally enjoy playing under Rahul bhai. New Zealand are a quality side. (We are going in with) 3 spinners, 2 seamers."
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said he would have also elected to bat first if he had won the toss. "Looking forward to this challenge. It's mixed, but it's okay. Ajaz Patel and Somerville have done well. We are going in with two spinners, two pacers and a spinning all-rounder debut."
India are resting a host of their first-choice players following a hectic season. Virat Kohli will join the team only for the second Test while Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are all sitting out of the series. KL Rahul got injured days before the first Test and has been ruled out of the series.
Playing XIs
India: Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Kyle Jamieson and William Somerville
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