Twitter Reactions: Kyle Jamieson's maiden five-fer puts New Zealand on top on Day 1

The second and final Test between India and New Zealand got underway on Saturday and after moments of brilliance from the visitors, the normalcy resumed. New Zealand were exceptional on the opening day of the Test match as the tall pacer Kyle Jamieson continued his dream run in international cricket. He picked his maiden Test five-wicket haul to trigger a collapse in the final session as India got bowled out for 242 runs in the first innings.

Tom Latham and Tom Blundell carried on the advantage and batted well to deny the Indian bowlers any early wicket. In the 23 overs that the duo played, they added 63 runs and remained unbeaten to frustrate the visitors. There were a few plays and misses but New Zealand’s opening pair did well to keep the opposition at bay. This is also the first time since the 2019 SCG Test that India failed to pick a wicket in less than 15 overs.

Three half-centuries from India but no one converted

Earlier in the day, Kane Williamson had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss as Virat Kohli once again called it wrong. But Prithvi Shaw, after a horrible first Test, looked in great touch stamping his authority early in the game. He fearlessly played cut shots while the front foot and back foot strokes were also pleasing to the eyes. However, his partner, Mayank Agarwal couldn’t get going and was pinned in front of the stumps by Trent Boult.

Cheteshwar Pujara then arrived to the middle and added 50 runs for the second wicket. Rather India would’ve owned the first session if Shaw hadn’t wafted at a wide delivery after getting to his half-century. Jamieson threw a fullish length delivery wide of the batsman and Shaw went for an expansive drive only for Tom Latham to take a single-handed blinder.

Virat Kohli’s lean run just extended run after he missed a straighter delivery from Tim Southee and to make it worse, the Indian skipper wasted a review. Ajinkya Rahane too couldn’t offer much resistance and at 113/4, India’s innings seemed to be in the doldrums. However, Pujara and Hanuma Vihari had other ideas.

They first weathered the storm early in the second session and then the latter took the attack to the opposition who had employed the short ball ploy. While Pujara was solid at the other end, Vihari played some gorgeous drives and fearless pull shots swaying out of the line. He won the battle with Neil Wagner early on but the left-arm pacer stuck to his strength and got Vihari’s wicket with a short ball itself.

Vihari, like Shaw, failed to go big after scoring 55 runs off 70 balls with 10 sumptuous boundaries. This was India’s fourth wicket to fall at the score of 194 and it triggered a sensational collapse. Pujara, soon after tea, played one of the horrible strokes of his career, to throw his wicket away on 54 while the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and India’s tail couldn’t hang around.

It was only due to Mohammed Shami’s quickfire 16 that the visitors managed to reach 242 in their first innings. India lost their last six wickets for just 48 runs in just 9.2 overs. Jamieson was at his best and picked up a five-wicket haul returning with the figures of 5/45.

With New Zealand not losing a wicket until stumps on Day 1, the first session of the second day will be crucial now especially for India. They will have to pick wickets on the second morning to have any chance of making a comeback in the Test match.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: