Riding on some disciplined bowling, New Zealand restricted India to 239/7 on the opening day of the second cricket Test at the iconic Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, India were off to a pathetic start before Cheteshwar Pujara (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (77) put on a 141-run stand for the fourth wicket to bail the team out of trouble.
At stumps, stumper Wriddhiman Saha (14 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja, who was yet to open his account, were at the crease.
For the visitors, pacer Matt Henry (3/35) and off-spinner Jeetan Patel (2/66) were the wicket-takers along with Trent Boult (1/33) and Neil Wagner (1/37).
New Zealand bowlers claimed the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (77) and dominated the third session of play. They bailed the team out of trouble by occupying the crease for 47.3 overs.
India lost the other two wickets in Rohit Sharma (2) and R Ashwin (26) in the final session as Blackcaps pushed hosts on the backfoot.
Earlier in the day, India captain Virat Kohli won his second consecutive toss of the three-Test series against New Zealand and elected to bat first. But things didn’t go India’s way in the opening session as hosts lost 3 wickets quickly in the opening session.
But hosts scored 79 runs from 31 overs without losing a wicket in the second session of Day 1. Pujara (64) and Rahane (47) stitched a 90-run-stand for the fourth wicket to revive India in the post-lunch session.
