Half-centuries by Will Young and Tom Latham gave New Zealand the edge over India on day two of the first Test at the Green Park Stadium here on Friday. At stumps, the visitors, were 129 for no loss in 57 overs with Young batting on 75 (180 balls) and Latham on 50 (165 balls), trailing India by 216 runs.
Resuming from 72/0 at tea, Young reached his fourth Test half-century with a thick outer edge rolling past gully off Umesh Yadav in 28th over. Young continued to take runs off Yadav, smashing consecutive boundaries square of the wicket on off-side.
Tom Latham, who bided time by playing a cautious defensive game, swept Ravindra Jadeja over mid-wicket in the 39th over, bringing the century of the opening partnership. The desperation for a wicket was such that India took a DRS against Young on an lbw decision despite the ball clearly going down leg.
Post drinks break, the ball did a lot for the Indian spinners but not enough to get a breakthrough. Ashwin had Latham caught behind in the 56th over but the opener got to reverse the decision. By the time stumps were drawn, New Zealand made it their day, thanks to their o’eners’ abilities to soak the pressure and be solid against the challenge from the Indian bowlers.
Brief scores: India 345 all out in 111.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 105, Shubman Gill 52, Ravindra Jadeja 50, Tim Southee 5/69, Kyle Jamieson 3/85) against New Zealand 129/0 in 57 overs (Will Young 75 not out, Tom Latham 50 not out).
