A gritty New Zealand team was able to draw the first test match at Kanpur against the mighty Indians, thanks to the resistance of two Indian origin cricketers- Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel. This is the first ever draw on the Indian soil since 2018 which speaks the determination of the world test championship champions- New Zealand.
Choosing to bat first at Green Parks, India piled up 345 runs, thanks to the century of debutant Shreyas Iyer’s 105 run inning. New Zealand were looking good but losing 7 wickets in 78 runs didn’t help their cause as they were bundled out on 296 runs.
With a bit of lead, India could not capitalize on it as they were struggling at 51-5 at one stage but the grit by Shreyas Iyer(65) and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha(61) put India on the driver’s seat and they set a target of 284 runs for the visitors.
The Kiwi batters were determined to go for a draw while Williamson(24) and Latham(52) were on the crease but the spin of Ashwin and Jadeja proved too good for them as the visitors kept losing wickets in the post lunch and tea session. They lost their 9th wicket in the 90th over of their innings but Ajaz Patel and debutant Rachin Ravindra played close to 9 overs to force a draw before bad light stopped play.
Shreyas Iyer was adjudged man of the match for becoming the first ever Indian to score a century and a half century at debut. “It’s a great feeling, but would been the icing on the cake if we had won the game. You can see that the pitch is still intact. We bowled really well. Mindset was to play sessions and play as many balls as possible. People say I am a flamboyant player, don’t curb my instincts, but I was just looking to play as many balls,” Iyer said.
