The 1st Test played between India and New Zealand played at Kanpur ended up in a draw in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023.
The dramatic final session can be termed as a highlight session in the entire match. Test ranking no.1 (India) and No.2 ranking (New Zealand) have both shown their class of play at crucial times. The 2-match series level 0-0 with this draw. India and New Zealand share 4 points each with the match result.
New Zealand’s final pair has tested the Indian bowler’s patience with a 52 balls unbeaten stand. The duo stayed at the crease without losing their wicket and helped NZ to draw the match. India at one stage looked to win the 1st Test. New Zealand’s batsmen Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel stood firm without giving away their wickets.
The 5-day match which started on November 25, 2021, ended today 12 mins before the scheduled time due to bad light. To start with, India won the toss and elected to bat first. India in its 1st inning scored 345 runs and in the 2nd innings, it scored 234/7 declared. In reply, New Zealand scored 296 runs in its 1st innings and 165/9 in their 2nd innings. NZ failed to chase the target of 284 runs and in the last, the match ended in a draw. Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer was declared Player of the match for his 105 runs (1st innings) and 65 runs (2ns innings) score.
Here is a brief match statistics:
Indian Scorecard:
1st Innings Batting – Shreyas Iyer scored 105 runs, Shubman Gill scored 52 runs and Ravindra Jadeja scored 50 runs.
2nd Innings Batting – Shreyas Iyer scored 65 runs and Wriddhiman Saha scored 61 runs.
Bowling – Ravichandran Ashwin took 6 wickets (3 wickets in 1st Innings & 3 wickets in 2nd Innings), Axar Patel took 6 wickets (5 wickets in 1st Innings & 1 wicket in 2nd Innings), Ravindra Jadeja took 5 wickets (1 wicket in 1st innings & 4 wickets in 2nd innings), Umesh Yadav took 1 wicket in each inning.
New Zealand Scorecard:
1st Innings Batting – Tom Latham 95 runs, Will Young 89 runs were the top scorers.
2nd Innings Batting – Tom Latham 52 runs is the only one who scored notable runs but the Rachin Ravindra (18 runs) and Ajaz Patel (2 runs) stood firm in the crease without getting out.
Bowling – Tim Southee took 8 wickets (5 in 1st Innings & 3 in 2nd innings), Kyle Jamieson 6 wickets (3 in 1st Innings & 3 in 2nd innings), Ajaz Patel 3 wickets (2 in 1st Innings & 1 in 2nd innings) in this match.
Coming to the stats of the ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023
- India has 30 points with 2 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws out of 6 matches played.
- England stood in 2nd place with 14 points from its 5 matches (1 win, 2 losses and 1 draw).
- Sri Lanka (1 match played – 1 win), Pakistan (2 matches played – 1 win and 1 loss) and West Indies (3 matches played – 1 win and 2 losses) share 3rd place with 12 points each.
- Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh have to open their points in the coming days.