For the opposition bowlers, it seems that their real test begins only after India have lost half their side. The lower-order batsmen, continuing with the resolve they have shown throughout the year in Test cricket, stood up once again in the ongoing Kanpur Test to put India in the driving seat.
At stumps on the penultimate day, a nervous New Zealand were 4/1, needing another 280 on a final day pitch to win the game. The Green Park wicket isn’t a minefield yet, but with the ball keeping quite low, it’s certainly a mighty difficult task for the visiting batsmen to survive on Day V against Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.
That Will Young, who was solid in the first innings, delayed so much in deciding to review the on-field lbw decision off Ashwin’s bowling only reflects the kind of pressure New Zealand are already in. However, for having created such a favourable scenario, credit goes to the character shown by the Indian lower order. They helped stretch India’s second-innings total to 234/7 before Ajinkya Rahane called back his batsmen, giving New Zealand a tricky target of 284.
Yes, Shreyas Iyer (65), again India’s top-scorer, came in at No. 5 and had a massive role to play. But the contributions of Nos. 7, 8 & 9 — Ashwin (32), Wriddhiman Saha (61 not out) and Axar (28 not out) — were no less important. Without them, New Zealand might have had to chase something just above 200 or around 220, which then would have made a big difference in terms of their mindset and approach.
Vital partnerships
At 51/5 and the overall lead just a 100, Shreyas and Ashwin had to start almost from scratch. But instead of getting overawed by the situation, the duo managed to remain positive, even against the bowling of Tim Southee. The pacer was looking threatening once again with a double-wicket maiden over after drinks in the first session on Sunday, when he dismissed Mayank Agarwal and Ravindra Jadeja in a span of three balls.
Before Kyle Jamieson’s extra bounce got the better of Ashwin, India’s lead had gone past 150. But there was still work to be done. In came Saha. Braving a stiff neck as well as the pressure of criticism because of his poor record with the bat in the last couple of years, Saha did very well to avoid the unforced errors and importantly, backed his game that helped in taking the pressure off Shreyas.
Thanks to the 64-run stand for the seventh wicket by Shreyas and Saha, who were also helped by rival skipper Kane Williamson’s defensive field placements, India could breathe a lot easier. And thereafter, Axar gave Saha the assistance he required in not just extending India’s lead, but also for getting to his first Test fifty since August 2017.
Declaration time
Did India delay in declaring? The fading light in Kanpur certainly raised that question. “There wasn’t much happening on the wicket. We also needed to get a competitive lead, maybe around 275-280. However, we have spin power,” Shreyas said later.
Also, given New Zealand’s over-defensive approach with the bat and the Indian spinners’ ability to extract something out of the pitch, that timing of the declaration might not turn out to be a big issue in the end.
