India vs New Zealand 2024/25, IND vs New Zealand 1st Test Match Report, October 16-20, 2024

stumps New Zealand 402 and 0 for 0 need 107 runs to bat India 46 and 462 (Sarfaraz 150, Pant 99, Kohli 70, Rohit 52, O'Rourke 3-92, Henry 3-102, Ajaz 2-100)

This was Test cricket without all its subtleties. The bowlers were under extreme pressure from Sarfaraz and Pant, who added 177 in 35.1 overs as India tried to become only the second team to win a Test with a first innings under 50. This same approach resulted in a breakdown when the second new ball started tweaking around.

This was high variance Test cricket. India lost 17 wickets for 108 runs by the first and third new balls, but scored 400 for 3 in 80 overs in between.

India's high strike rate meant that the second new ball was New Zealand's absolute last delivery. If they hadn't been able to do any damage with the new ball, the best they could have hoped for was a draw. Considering how they were put under pressure for 80 overs and looked toothless, getting back into the game was a display of remarkable skill and tenacity.

The only time New Zealand came close to a wicket before the new ball was a run-out opportunity at Pant's end, but Tom Blundell apologized for the second time in the game by seemingly unconsciously leaving his base for one long throw to collect the opportunity at its end. The pants were only at 6 at the time.

As Pant fought his way into the innings, scoring 12 from the first 24 balls he faced, Sarfaraz took just six balls in the morning to display his cheek: a casual rise off O'Rourke's first ball of the day. When they reinforced the field with a deep third and a deep point, Sarfaraz still split them in half.

Soon Pant joined him. They showed little regard for fielding, no fear of making mistakes and the New Zealand bowlers once again failed to give Tom Latham control. The biggest disappointment was Ajaz Patel, who turned the ball over less than part-time player Rachin Ravindra.

It seemed like the seam bowlers wanted to catch Sarfaraz lbw, but that only continued to give him easy singles to the leg side. When the keeper got to the stumps to push Pant into the crease, the visitors were rewarded with an advantage, but the dying pitcher didn't have enough scope to carry him. However, he soon knocked Southee out of the crease for a six-ball shot back over his head.

In the eighth over of the day, Sarfaraz hit Southee to deep cover, which would have been a single for any other batter, but he had sent all the fielders elsewhere with his late cuts. The border brought out an emotional hundred.

When Ajaz hit Pant from the rough, the glove absorbed much of the impact and the ball went straight to the ground. He now decided that he had to attack. In a dramatic over from Ajaz, he hit two sixes. He then survived an inside edge and an outside edge in the same over. The inside throw saved him from being lbw and his back pad prevented New Zealand from catching the ball from the outside edge. Pant still managed to hit another four in the over, India's 47th boundary, more than the runs they scored in the first innings.

A shower of rain brought them some relief, but India continued to attack in front of the new ball, increasing their run rate back to five per over. Initially, it looked like New Zealand had exhausted all their luck, managing to bowl India out for 46 and getting Rohit Sharma out in the second innings. At the moment everything just started going over the bat or to safety.

Sarfaraz survived seven different types of misses before finally throwing one at cover as the ball flew past him. Pant, not quite at home even against the new ball, tried a sweep before actually dropping his jaw to the ground with the slog-swept six and going into the 90s.

Then came O'Rourke, who had been put at four for the first ball that morning. This time his first ball bounced back and kicked Pant to hit the deadly bottom edge, silencing the crowd. His extra bounce and seam movement also accounted for KL Rahul. Then one slowly descended from the surface to grab the toe end of a Ravindra Jadeja move.

Henry bowled an unbroken ten-over set to keep the score under control and take the last three wickets in addition to the five in his first innings. While Indian fans went from praying for the rain to stop to hoping for biblical thunderstorms, India did not seem pleased when they were asked to leave early due to poor light, which later turned into a massive storm. The new ball was in motion and India was hoping for damage from artificial light.