Williamson, Latham defy spin to lift New Zealand to 152 for 1

A couple of moments of luck, and several hours of application and skill put New Zealand on firm footing in its opening Test against India, before rain arrived in Kanpur to bring a premature end to what had been an absorbing contest on Friday (September 23).

A light drizzle had begun shortly before tea on the second day, but the break was taken as scheduled, with New Zealand 152 for 1 in 47 overs and the duo of Kane Williamson and Tom Latham having bedded down to neutralise the R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja threat. However, the rain got progressively heavier and play was called off for the rest of the day. A 9.15am start has been scheduled on Saturday, when 98 overs will have to be bowled.

Until then, it had been a complete Williamson and Latham show, with Lady Luck making a bit of an extended guest appearance. Given the magnificent composure and class both batsmen exhibited though, no one – save the Indian team perhaps – could have grudged them their fortune. Their unbroken 117-run stand meant New Zealand was only 166 behind India’s first-innings total of 318.

That India got so many was down to Jadeja's enterprising 42 not out off 44 balls, where he went on the attack from the start and took boundaries off Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult while farming the strike alongside Umesh Yadav. Jadeja's innings meant India could add 29 runs to its overnight 291 for 9 before Neil Wagner got Yadav to glove a leg-side delivery to BJ Watling, ending India's innings.

Williamson and Latham got together when Martin Guptill (21) got too far across a quick and full Yadav delivery that rapped him on the pads and was headed towards leg stump. Williamson, the New Zealand captain, looked assured from the moment he took guard. There are few batsmen in world cricket who can match his class and it was in much evidence during his 115-ball stay that has brought 67 delectable runs so far.

Jadeja was introduced as early as the third over, with Ashwin coming on in the 11th, but Williamson remained composed in the face of the spin-twin threat. India began by having men crowded around the bat, but Williamson had promised before the match that his team wouldn’t “jump at shadows” – and he lived up to that. The externalities of men around him, a pitch with cracks that could have started playing tricks anytime, and a proven world-class duo didn’t bother him. He used the depth of the crease to play the ball late when it was on a length, and judged when to play the sweep shot perfectly.

While Williamson was happy to flick and drive the ball when given the opportunity, Latham (batting on 56 off 137 balls) concentrated more on patience and used the sweep as his go-to shot. Their ability to judge the length was their main ally, and it held them in good stead whether playing or leaving the ball during an association that has spanned 37.3 overs so far – one ball short of the M Vijay-Cheteshwar Pujara stand that had taken India to an almost exactly similar position on the first day.

While skill alone would have given Latham and Williamson a good score, slices of fortune ensured they were still around to try and make great scores.

In the 31st over, Ashwin got one to loop and land before taking off. Williamson had stretched out to meet the ball while shaping for a sweep, but it kicked and spun to hit the batsman on the back of the helmet, where a flap came off and hit the stumps. The bails, however, remained in place.

Soon after, Latham swept Jadeja into the ground, but instead of the ball hitting turf, it caught his boot and rebounded to KL Rahul at short leg. The Indians were jubilant, the umpires went for television replays. Those confirmed that the ball had indeed gone to Rahul legitimately, touching only boot, but it appeared as if it had also made contact with Rahul’s helmet grille or strap when the fielder juggled to catch the ball. That brought Law 32.3 into focus: "It is not a fair catch if at any time after having been struck by the bat and before a catch is completed the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder." And Latham, then on 47, played on.

It was not a coincidence that most of the close calls came towards the end of the second session. The wearing pitch and Ashwin finding his length and loop played their part in creating more doubts for New Zealand. However, before that mini-theatre could reach its denouement, the rains deferred it for the morrow.

Please click here to review the match in full in the ICC Match Centre.