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Updated November 29th, 2021 at 09:00 IST

India vs New Zealand 1st Test: Why did India declare late on Day 4 of Kanpur Test?

Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha scored half-centuries to help India take back control of the match after New Zealand had the upper hand in first half on Day 4.

Reported by: Suraj Alva
Why did India declare innings on Day 4
Image: BCCI/ Twitter | Image:self
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New Zealand seemed to be in complete control of India vs New Zealand 1st Test with bowlers doing the damage on Day 4, however, the Indian batting lineup did provide a fight to put up defending total on board. Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha scored half-centuries to help India take back control of the match. R Ashwin dismissed Will Young before the end of the day play to put India on top with Monday's day being the final day of the Test. 

India vs New Zealand 1st Test: Shreyas Iyer reveals why India declared second innings

Shreyas Iyer is having a memorable debut in the longest format of the game scoring a century in the first innings, while in the second innings the middle-order batsman once again top-scored for India with 65 runs from 125 balls. India declared their second innings at 234/7 with Shreyas Iyer revealing the nature of the pitch in the post-match press conference.

He said, “To be honest, there wasn’t much happening on the wicket. We needed to get to a competitive total, maybe around 275-280. The talk was to get to a competitive total and I feel that it’s a really good total. We have real spin power, so hopefully, we can get the job done tomorrow. We have spin power,” 

He further said, “We have to have faith in our spinners and know they can really put them under pressure on the final day.I thought 250-odd including the lead was more than enough on this wicket, and fortunately, we got some more,”. With a century and half-century, Shreyas Iyer also made history becoming the first Indian player to score a hundred and a fifty on his debut match in Test cricket.

Highlights from Day 4 of India vs New Zealand 1st Test

After losing half of the team quite early on Day 4 Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Sahasaved the day for Team India scoring half-centuries to put keep the team in hunt for a win going into the final day of the 1st Test. Shreyas Iyer top-scored for the team  65 runs, while Saha remained unbeaten on 61 runs before the declaration came into play. After New Zealand pacers had half of the Indian batting lineup back in the hut Iyer and Ashwin (32) steadied the ship for India before the lower-order also chipped in with some invaluable runs. 

The final session of the match saw the visitors failing to break the partnership between Saha and Axar Patel. The declaration finally arrived with India's score at 234/7 and the lead at 283 runs. Before the end of the day's play, R Ashwin delivered the breakthrough with the wicket of Will Young.

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Published November 29th, 2021 at 09:00 IST

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