India vs New Zealand 1st Test: India have lost early wickets after winning the toss and opting to bat first in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In the 12.4 overs of play that was possible before rain interrupted the game again, the hosts lost captain Rohit Sharma for 2, Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan for ducks, leaving the team at 13/3.
Notably, Day 1 of the Test series opener was called off without a ball bowled. Play started early on Day 2 but only 12.4 overs of play was possible before rain came again. New Zealand pacers made the most of the overcast conditions in the passage of play with each of Tim Southee, Matt Henry and William O’Rourke picking up a wicket each. While Southee cleaned up Rohit beating him with the seam movement, O’Rourke got rid of Virat Kohli, getting him caught at leg gully.
Sarfaraz Khan, playing this match in place of an unwell Shubman Gill, was the last wicket to fall. The Mumbai batter tried to hit Henry down the ground but only managed to hit it as far as mid-off where Devon Conway picked up a stunning catch. Notably, India have made two changes to their Playing 11 from their last Test match against Bangladesh, bringing in Sarfaraz in place of Gill which was bit of a forced change and going ahead with Kuldeep Yadav in place of Akash Deep.
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Meanwhile, New Zealand have gone ahead with three seamers and Ajaz Patel with two all-rounders also capable of bowling spin. Even though Kiwi skipper Tom Latham had said that he would have liked to bat first had he won the toss, this has turned out to be a fine match for the BlackCaps.