On the opening day of the first Test of the
two-match series, India scored 258 for 4 at stumps on Thursday at the Greenpark
in Kanpur. After winning the toss Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading the team in
absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, chose the bat against New Zealand. 

India had a mixed day at the office with Kyle Jamieson scalping three wickets
for New Zealand and Shreyas Iyer scoring an excellent 75 not out on his Test
debut to rescue India from the early hiccups.

Jamieson rips through Indian top order 

As Jamieson ripped through the Indian
batting attack, India were reduced to 145 for 4 in the afternoon session. Mayank Agarwal,
Shubman Gill, who scored 52 before being bowled over, and Ajinkya Rahane were
dismissed by Jamieson in quick succession. Jamieson exploited Greenpark’s
morning nip very well to give India an early blow. He finished the day with three wickets for 47 runs in 15.2 overs. 

Electing to bat, Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara shared 61 runs after the fall of Mayank Agarwal (13) early.

The wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara was taken by Tim Southee.

Iyer, Jadeja fightback

After the fall of four quick wickets,
Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja have built a 113-run partnership for the sixth wicket to provide the
Indian innings much-needed stability. As the nip dried up at Greenpark, India
made a recovery to end the day on a brighter note. Iyer (75) and Ravindra
Jadeja (50) will resume the innings for India on Day 2.

Both Iyer and Jadeja batted with measured
aggression. They were quick on their feet to accelerate the scoreboard. Iyer
will now look to convert his fifty to a hundred to make a strong impression
ahead of South Africa tour.

Jadeja, who has three fifties in his last
four outings in India, scored 50 off 100 balls. Shedding his aggressive avatar,
he batted with caution and made sure he stayed at the crease to give Iyer
requisite support from the other end. His six boundaries was an amalgamation of
caution and aggression.’

Iyer targets 100 on debut

On Day 2, Iyer and Jadeja will have a
difficult morning to negotiate as Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee would be keen to
exploit the morning nip to break the partnership.

India, on the other hand, will look to
cross 300 so that the bowling attack, which is comprised of Ishant Sharma,
Umesh Yadav and the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel,
gets enough time to defend the total.

For India, the more Iyer and Jadeja bat,
the more good fortune spinners will have as the pitch tends to deteriorate over
time.

Brief Scores: India 1st innings: 258 for 4 in 84 overs (Shubman Gill 52, Shreyas Iyer 75 not out; Kyle Jamieson 3/47).