New Zealand vs India: Tim Southee shatters Prithvi Shaw's stumps with a peach of a delivery

Facing the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult on the first morning of a Test cricket is never easy. And when there is a green tinge on the pitch, the prospect can become a nightmare for the opposition. Prithvi Shaw experienced the same in the ongoing Wellington Test after New Zealand opted to bowl first. He got a snorter of a delivery from Southee which shattered his stumps as the hosts drew first blood.

It was a decent start for Shaw and India as the former played his shots and didn’t look in much trouble. Southee was finding the perfect line on the surface and found it just in time in the fifth over to rock the tourists early. The pacer delivered out-swinger pitching the ball full. The batsman, meanwhile, thought that he can work the ball on the leg-side.

However, the ball pitched on middle and off and just did enough. Moreover, Prithvi Shaw’s foot didn’t go anywhere which made things worse for him. He got beaten completely and heard the death rattle behind him. While Tim Southee bowled an exceptional delivery to get rid of the Indian opener, it was not an unplayable one though as Shaw made it look thanks to his shot selection and footwork. He scored 16 runs before getting out.

Here’s the video:

Shaw cleaned up by Southee. #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/U4FswTI94b

— Karan P. Saxena (@karanpsaxena92) February 21, 2020

Special occasion for Ross Taylor

This Test also marked a special occasion for Ross Taylor who featured in the 100th game in this format. He also walked out with his kids, MacKenzie and Jonty, for the national anthems as his family made the moment even more special for him. Taylor also plucked a decent catch at the first slip to send back Virat Kohli early in the innings for just two runs.

Kyle Jamieson, the debutant, got the better of the Indian skipper after sending Cheteshwar Pujara with a brilliant delivery as well. New Zealand will be quite happy with their bowlers and would be hoping to bundle India out for a low score. It will also be interesting to see how the visitors respond even as they have long batting line-up for this game with Rishabh Pant batting at seven and Ravi Ashwin coming in at 8.