Rain brought an early end to play on Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand at Kanpur on Friday. Light rain began, just before tea was taken and it grew steadily heavier. Play was called off after an inspection at 3.45 pm Indian Standard Time with New Zealand on 152/1, still trailing India by 166 runs.
Till then, it had been a day which belonged overwhelmingly to New Zealand. They did not allow India far off the hook when they resumed on 291/9, allowing only 27 more runs to be added before the innings folded for 318.
But if India thought that New Zealand would crumble under the pressure of spin, they were wrong. Martin Guptill looked assertive in his 21 but was done in by an in-swinger from Umesh Yadav. That was the only relief India got in the day. Kane Williamson lived up to his reputation, playing a master-class in Indian conditions.
Williamson was confident in his footwork, going back whenever the ball was pitched a fraction short and stroking with aplomb on his way to an unbeaten 65. It was an accomplished innings from a extremely talented batsmen, making light of difficult conditions. Latham, at the other end, found life much tougher but used the sweep shot to great effect to get runs. To his credit, he hung in, and did not give India the breakthrough they desperately required.
Not that it was one-way traffic. The post lunch session saw plenty of close shouts and appeals from India. Tom Latham, in particular, got a particularly lucky break after a bat-pad catch to KL Rahul was turned down as it was discovered that the ball had grazed the grill of Rahul's helmet. A few overs later, wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha was convinced that Williamson had got an under-edge on an attempted cut. He was given not out but replays indicated that there had been a sound though Ultra Edge proved inconclusive.
All in all, India's two spin spearheads of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had combined figures of 0/91 in 31 overs. Captain Virat Kohli would have definitely not anticipated this. But all is not lost. India still have a sizeable lead and if they can break this partnership early tomorrow, they will fancy themselves to make further inroads.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 152/1 (Kane Williamson 66 not out, Tom Latham 56 not out; Umesh Yadav 1/22) trail India 318 (Murali Vijay 65, Cheteshwar Pujara 62; Trent Boult 3/67, Mitchell Santner 3/94) by 166 runs