Riding on some disciplined bowling, New Zealand bowlers restricted India to 239/7 on the opening day of the second Test at the iconic Eden Gardens on Friday after a resolute Cheteshwhar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had pulled India out of the rut
New Zealand's Matt Henry(L) celebrates after taking the wicket of India's Murali Vijay(R) during the first day of the Kolkata Test. Pic/ AFP
Kolkata: Riding on some disciplined bowling, New Zealand bowlers restricted India to 239/7 on the opening day of the second Test at the iconic Eden Gardens on Friday after a resolute Cheteshwhar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had pulled India out of the rut.
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Electing to bat after winning the toss, India were off to a pathetic start before Cheteshwar Pujara (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (77) put on a 141-run stand for the fourth wicket to bail the team out of trouble.
At stumps, stumper Wriddhiman Saha (14 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja, who was yet to open his account, were at the crease.
For the visitors, pacer Matt Henry (3/35) and off-spinner Jeetan Patel (2/66) were the wicket-takers along with Trent Boult (1/33) and Neil Wagner (1/37).
India's vaunted batting line-up failed to recover from the early blows dealt by New Zealand's concerted bowling effort and gave the honours of India's 250th home Test to the visitors.
Barring Cheteshwar Pujara (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (77), none of the batsmen came good after skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat on the relaid pitch of the historic Eden Gardens stadium.
The Kiwis, who were dealt a blow this morning when regular skipper and top batsman Kane Williamson was ruled out of match owing to illness, showed tremendous resilience to put up a fine first day show.
India, who will regain the top spot in ICC rankings if they seal the three-match series in this match, did not make a very good start and lost their top-three batsmen even before the score had touched 50.
Pujara and Rahane's dogged fourth-wicket stand of 141 was the high point for India today.
For the in-form Pujara, it was his third half-century from as many innings but a lapse in concentration ended his patient innings for 87 that came off 219 deliveries and was studded with 17 hits to the fence.
From being 46/3 in a jittery first session, Pujara and Rahane batted with grit and determination under the blazing afternoon heat and energy-sapping humidity.
The duo's stand spanned three hours and nine minutes but the Kiwis made an impact in the final session snapping four wickets.
Pujara was set up brilliantly by left-arm pacer Neil Wagner, who put a short cover for him, and the Indian holed out to Martin Guptill.
It was not a good day at his favourite ground for Rohit Sharma (2), who was dismissed by Patel. The right-hander also looked to have hurt his left shoulder while attempting a single.
For the Kiwis, it was a tale of two comeback men as first 24-year-old Henry (3/35), who had replaced their pace spearhead Tim Southee created quite a flutter by removing both the openers -- Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Murali Vijay (9).
Off the second ball of his first over, Henry bowled Dhawan who tried to cut in an angled delivery only to drag the ball back to his stumps.
Replacing Lokesh Rahul, Dhawan's stint lasted just 10 balls with scorecard reading 1/1 in the second over. Vijay also perished to a beauty from the youngster playing only his fifth Test.
Continuing a rare lean patch, skipper Kohli (9) was steadying the ship with a set Pujara, but Trent Boult (1/33) dismissed the skipper. Kohli got carried away after an exquisite cover drive that was cheered by the small turnout and went for an IPL-like shot chasing a ball way outside the off-stump to be caught brilliantly by Tom Latham.
The dismissal less than half an before the lunch break disturbed India's recovery plan before Pujara and Rahane held firm in the second session.
Pujara, in the midst of a storm over his slow strike rate, gave an exhibition of classy batsmanship to complete his 10th half-century in 37 Test matches.
Pujara played in his typical gritty manner, but was also ruthless on the loose balls as the wicket eased out under the afternoon sun and gave little or no purchase to the New Zealand bowlers.
He reached his half-century by steering Wagner to the fence past backward point, the landmark coming off 146 balls after a 185-minute stay. But 44 of those runs came courtesy 11 boundaries.
Rahane also looked solid and cautiously aggressive as the New Zealand bowlers failed to get any success in the second session, after dominating the first.
In the morning, India struggled to reach 57/3 at lunch with the New Zealand bowlers seizing the initiative on a lively and grassy track that gave their pacers, particularly Matt Henry, carry from the wicket, and they repeatedly went tantalisingly close to finding the batsmen's outside edge. Both Henry and Trent Boult bowled to a plan, maintaining a line on or just outside the off-stump.
India began on a wrong note after winning the toss, losing openers Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Murali Vijay (9) by the first drinks interval.
Skipper Virat Kohli (9) also failed to break his Eden Gardens jinx in the longest format of the game.
The dashing batsman chased a ball wide outside the off stump and finished in the hands of Tom Latham at gully. It was a brilliant catch as Latham virtually plucked the leather from thin air.
Kohli has now totalled 38 runs in four Test innings at the Eden, at a niggardly average of 9.50.
New Zealand got a huge jolt before the match as their skipper and batting mainstay Kane Williamson was ruled out due to indisposition with Ross Taylor becoming the stand-in captain.
India made two changes from the team that played the first Test at Kanpur. Shikhar Dhawan replaced the injured Lokesh Rahul, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar made it to the final XI in place of Umesh Yadav.
The visitors went with three changes. Henry Nicholls, Henry and Jeetan Patel are part of the team in place of Williamson, Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi.
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