Feeling at home

Kanpur, November 29

Debutant Rachin Ravindra and No. 11 batsman Ajaz Patel combined in a stunning rearguard to secure New Zealand’s thrilling draw in the opening Test against India today.

Chasing 284 for victory on a final day surface, New Zealand were in tatters at 155/9 with at least eight overs to go and the light steadily fading at the Green Park Stadium.

End of streak

The draw breaks a sequence of 14 successive results (win/loss) in Tests in India. It was the longest streak. There were 13 results in a row in India between 1988 and 1994

Rachin in his first Test match and Ajaz as well showed a lot of character — Kane Williamson, New Zealand skipper

Their last batting pair of Ravindra and Patel faced relentless spin from both ends with a shoal of close-in fielders around the bat but managed to survive the last 52 balls to deny India.

“I suppose the beauty of Test cricket really, where there can be a lot of excitement,” New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said of what he called “an exciting day”. “Obviously when the win was out of the question, a draw is the next best option to try and fight for, and there was a lot of effort going into trying to achieve that. Rachin in his first Test match and Ajaz as well showed a lot of character to bat those few overs there against high-quality, world class spin as the light was dimming.”

Floodgates opened

After a wicketless morning session, seamer Umesh Yadav struck with the first ball after lunch to break the 76-run stand between overnight batsmen Will Somerville and Tom Latham.

Somerville had walked out as nightwatchman after Will Young’s late dismissal on Sunday but played like a specialist batsman for his 36 off 110 balls.

His dismissal opened the floodgates for India’s three-pronged spin attack.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3/35) cut short Latham’s industrious knock of 52 and Ravindra Jadeja (4/40) dismissed veteran Ross Taylor on the stroke of tea.

The onus was on Williamson to save the match but the New Zealand captain fell for 24, trapped leg-before by a Jadeja delivery that kept low.

Although wickets kept tumbling, time was also running out for India as the on-field umpires kept checking the light-meter readings.

India deployed seven fielders around the bat but were still thwarted by the over-my-body defiance from Ravindra and Patel.

Ravindra faced 91 balls for his 18 not out, while Patel survived 23 balls to stay unbeaten on two. — Reuters