Bengaluru, Oct 17 (IANS): Opener Devon Conway smashed a stroke-filled 61 to help New Zealand reach 82/1 in 20 overs at tea on day two of first Test against India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
New Zealand also have a lead of 36 runs after bowling out India for just 46 earlier in the second session. After their bowlers and fielders joined forces to blow away India, Conway was the main aggressor in a 67-run opening stand with captain Tom Latham.
With bright sunshine slowly making way, Conway was superb in clipping and driving Mohammed Siraj for boundaries, followed by sweetly timing his fours off Jasprit Bumrah. What really stood out from Conway’s breezy knock has been his takedown of premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
With his armoury of sweeps, reverse sweeps and even sixes smashed down the ground, Conway’s attacking blitzkrieg ensured he got his tenth Test fifty in 54 balls, as Ashwin went for 31 runs in his six overs.
Though Kuldeep Yadav got India the breakthrough by trapping Latham lbw with a googly, Conway taking two more boundaries via drive and Will Young also taking a four meant New Zealand went into tea with hopes of taking a mammoth lead against India.
Previously, resuming from 34/6 at lunch, Matt Henry struck on the very first ball by catching shoulder edge of Ravichandran Ashwin and the ball lobbed to gully. He then enticed Rishabh Pant into tentative defence and edged to second slip.
William O’Rourke had Bumrah heaving to long leg, before Henry ended the Indian batting horror show by having Kuldeep Yadav caught at gully to cap off a brilliant time for New Zealand with the red cherry. Henry ended up with 5-15 and also reached the landmark of 100 Test wickets.
O'Rourke, playing in his first Test in India, made a fantastic impression with his 4-22, while the veteran Tim Southee took a scalp. For India, bowled out for their lowest Test total at home, Pant (20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) reached double figures in a sorry Indian batting show laced with five ducks.
Brief Scores: India 46 in 31.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 20; Matt Henry 5-15) trail New Zealand 82/1 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 61 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 1-15) by 36 runs