New Zealand's Trent Boult (3/57) ran through the Indian lower-middle order late in the day to help the visitors finish strongly at Eden Park, Kanpur, on Day 1 of the first Test. India, playing their 500th Test match, were in control halfway through the day as Murali Vijay (65) and Cheteshwar Pujara (62) built a 112-run partnership for the second wicket. However, India lost five wickets in the final session of the day's play to end at 291/9.

Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. KL Rahul failed to cash in on a good start, but Vijay and Pujara patiently stitched a big partnership.

New Zealand, who had picked three spinners for the match, scripted a comeback in the post lunch session. Neil Wagner picked up the crucial wicket of Kohli while Rohit Sharma played a careless lofted shot off Mitchell Santner to head back to the pavilion. Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami were all removed by Boult, who made a terrific comeback with the second new ball.