Two biggest teams of the World Cricket are ready for the first clash of the three match series of New Zealand tour of India. It will not only be the competition between the two countries, but it is a clash of the two world class captain Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli.
Both giant teams will lock their horns on September 22, 2016, at Green Park, Kanpur. It is not just a simple test match as with this test match; Indian will join the club of playing the 500 Test matches alongside Australia and England.
WHERE TO WATCH
Star Sports 1 (English)
Star Sports 3 (Hindi)
TIMING
9:30 AM
Indian Team Preview
It will be the special occasion for Virat Kohli and his men as they will feature in the 500th Test match for their country. It will be embraced by the presence of the former Indian captains, and thus, pundits all over the globes believe it will be the historic day for Indian Cricket.
The occasion is significant, so is the Indian captain. Virat Kohli will be looking to continue the dominant form of his team that began last year when they defeated Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka after a long time, then they thrashed South Africa by 3-0 and recently they won Test series in the Caribbean by 2-0.
Kohli himself has set a bar in the shorter version of the game and is keen to make the same impact in the longer version of the match. Meanwhile, there are few concerns for the Indian premiere batsman as the biggest challenge for him to select the quality XI.
Virat has to choose from Vijay, Rahul, and Dhawan and it will be interesting to see, who will get the chance to roll the risk against the red cherry. Then, Kohli has to choose the No. 3 for his team. Will it be Pujara or Kohli himself?
There is great chance that Rohit Sharma will get the chance in the middle order and it will be the perfect opportunity for Sharma to justify his selection.
Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma is injured, and he is ruled out of the first test match. It is expected that Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mohammad Sami will swing the ball for India.
Also, the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja will spin the red cherry for them. A lot has been expected from Ashwin especially after his twin centuries on the West Indies tour.
Well, it be the perfect beginning for the home series for India and knowing Kohli, he will look to continue the home season with a bang. Also, a win in the first test match will make boost India to the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world.
India Test Squad
Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav
New Zeland Team Preview
India has Kohli; then New Zeland has Williamson. The 25-year-old, New Zeland captain, had made his debut on the Indian soil a few years ago, and now, he is regarded as the best player alongside Root, Kohli, and Smith.
Williamson and his troop are coming on the back of a Test series defeat against South Africa by 1-0. This will be the real test for New Zealand batsman as they have to face the spin wizard of India on spin turning tracks.
The likes of Latham, Ross Taylor, and Williamson will be the key for New Zeland in the batting department. BJ Watling alongside Henry Nicolls and James Neesham will be the backbone for New Zeland in lower order batsman.
Although New Zealand has suffered a blow as their most experienced fast bowlers, Tim Southee has been ruled out of the whole test series. Trent Boult will be the spreads for his team alongside Neil Wagner and Matt Henry.
The spin department of New Zeland will depend on the trio of Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, and Mark Craig. Also, Mark Craig has the decent average with the bat as well, and it will be handy in all the three test matches.
Williamson and his team have a challenging stuff in the form of R Ashwin, and if, they will somehow find a way of dealing Ashwin then they can create the history by winning the Test series for the first time in India.
Day 4: 2nd Session – India lead by 332 runs
| Batsman | Status | R | B | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lokesh Rahul | c Ross Taylor b Ish Sodhi | 38 | 50 | 8 | 0 |
| Murali Vijay | lbw b Mitchell Santner | 76 | 170 | 8 | 1 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | c Ross Taylor b Ish Sodhi | 78 | 152 | 10 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (C) | c Ish Sodhi b Mark Craig | 18 | 40 | 3 | 0 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Batting | 35 | 73 | 3 | 0 |
| Rohit Sharma | Batting | 17 | 38 | 2 | 0 |
| Bowler | O | M | R | Wkts | W | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 5.1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Santner | 27 | 10 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Craig | 23 | 3 | 80 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Wagner | 10 | 4 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ish Sodhi | 16 | 2 | 67 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Guptill | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kane Williamson | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
New Zealand (NZ) 1st Innings
Batsman |
Status | R | B | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Guptill | lbw b Umesh Yadav | 21 | 31 | 3 | 0 |
| Tom Latham | lbw b Ravichandran Ashwin | 58 | 151 | 5 | 0 |
| Kane Williamson (C) | b Ravichandran Ashwin | 75 | 137 | 7 | 0 |
| Ross Taylor | lbw b Ravindra Jadeja | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Ronchi | lbw b Ravindra Jadeja | 38 | 83 | 6 | 0 |
| Mitchell Santner | c Wriddhiman Saha b Ravichandran Ashwin | 32 | 107 | 5 | 0 |
| Bradley Watling (W) | c & b Ravichandran Ashwin | 21 | 54 | 4 | 0 |
| Mark Craig | lbw b Ravindra Jadeja | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Ish Sodhi | lbw b Ravindra Jadeja | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trent Boult | c Rohit Sharma b Ravindra Jadeja | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Wagner | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bowler |
O | M | R | Wkts | W | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Shami | 11 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Umesh Yadav | 15 | 5 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 34 | 7 | 73 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 30.5 | 7 | 93 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Murali Vijay | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rohit Sharma | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Batsman |
Status | R | B | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lokesh Rahul | c Bradley Watling b Mitchell Santner | 32 | 39 | 4 | 1 |
| Murali Vijay | c Bradley Watling b Ish Sodhi | 65 | 170 | 8 | 0 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | c & b Mitchell Santner | 62 | 109 | 8 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (C) | c Ish Sodhi b Neil Wagner | 9 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | c Tom Latham b Mark Craig | 18 | 36 | 2 | 0 |
| Rohit Sharma | c Ish Sodhi b Mitchell Santner | 35 | 67 | 3 | 1 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | c Ross Taylor b Trent Boult | 40 | 76 | 7 | 0 |
| Wriddhiman Saha (W) | b Trent Boult | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | not out | 42 | 44 | 7 | 1 |
| Mohammed Shami | b Trent Boult | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Umesh Yadav | c Bradley Watling b Neil Wagner | 9 | 27 | 2 | 0 |
Bowler |
O | M | R | Wkts | W | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 20 | 3 | 67 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Wagner | 15 | 4 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Santner | 23 | 2 | 94 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Craig | 24 | 6 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ish Sodhi | 15 | 3 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
New Zealand Test Squad
Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling(w), Mitchell Santner, Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell, Luke Ronchi, Ish Sodhi
PREDICTION
India is the hot favorite to win this match.
Leave a Reply