IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 3 lunch: Umesh removes Williamson to lift India, but Latham holding fort

The big wicket of Kane Williamson at the stroke of lunch interval lifted India on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. The visitors are still ahead in the game having lost just two wickets and being around the 200-run mark but a quick collapse can never be ruled out on an Indian pitch against the bowling combination of India.

The Blackcaps resumed their innings at 129/0 with Will Young and Tom Latham starting the proceedings. Young was more unsettled of the two and after numerous false shots, he fell to a delivery from Ravichandran Ashwin that kept low and Srikar Bharat was eager to affect his first dismissal in Test cricket after coming in for Wriddhiman Saha.

Then, Williamson joined hands with Latham to deny India any more opportunities to get amongst the New Zealand top order. However, he played some uncharacteristic shots at the start of the innings as well, but he was lucky enough to survive a top bowling spell from Ashwin.

Indian bowlers kept pressure from both ends and did not allow the Blackcaps batsmen to go on a roll with easy boundary balls.

Skipper Rahane delayed the second new ball for four overs before unleashing Umesh Yadav against the batsmen right towards the end of the session. Umesh got the ball to jag back sharply towards Williamson and the Blackcaps skipper was found rooted to the crease and a low bounce on the surface trapped him right in front of the stumps to give India the much-needed wicket.

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IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 3: Umpire Nitin Menon, Ravichandran Aswhin involved in animated discussion

There were moments of animated discussions between Ravichandran Ashwin and one of the on-field umpires in the 1st Test match between India and New Zealand, being hosted in Kanpur. The point of contention seemed to be Nitin Menon's issue with the off-spinner’s followthrough while bowling to Kane Williamson. Ashwin was bowling from round the wicket angle and he was ending his bowling action after running across toe the other side of the pitch. Umpire Menon asked Ashwin to not run across the pitch despite him not running on the danger areas and the spinner was not impressed one bit by that piece of advice. Later, as their discussion developed into an argument, and skipper Ajinkya Rahane was forced to join the duo and appeared to be asking the umpire what was the issue. Commentators on air—Simon Doull and Sunil Gavaskar opined that umpires should have no business in asking the bowlers where they should end their bowling action and that they should intervene only when the danger zone of the surface is impacted. New Zealand are going strength to strength with the bat in the first innings as they have come closer to the 200-run mark with nine wickets in their hands and one of the openers Tom Latham looking solid as ever for a big one.

India 'A' tour of South Africa to continue

The detection of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa put the cricketing and sporting activities under dark clouds. However, the India ‘A’ tour of South Africa which is underway is going to continue. The visitors are presently in Bloemfontein and had a discussion with Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials and subsequently decided to complete the fixtures. "We are in contact with the BCCI and there is no prejudice to the Indian tour to South Africa at this stage. We will, of course, continue to monitor developments regarding the spread of the virus and keep the BCCI informed. As CSA we remain committed to ensuring that all visiting teams and Proteas players are afforded a safe environment to play cricket," Lawson Naidoo, the head of CSA, told Cricbuzz on Friday (November 26) evening. "The distance between the two places is over 1000 miles and we have been told that there is no immediate health hazard. We have had discussions with the CSA officials and the medical team. The team hotel and the ground area have been sanitised and we're in a bio-bubble," team manager Anil Patel told Cricbuzz on Friday. "At this stage, we have decided to stay on." The sides are slated to play a three-match series with the first unofficial Test ending in a draw.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 3: Saha suffers stiff neck, Srikar Bharat takes wicketkeeping gloves

Wriddhiman Saha did not take the field and wicketkeeping gloves at the start of the third day of the first Test in Kanpur due to a stiff neck and Andhra Pradesh’s Srikar Bharat made his maiden appearance behind the stumps for India. Saha came back into the playing XI as India rested Rishabh Pant, whose rapid strides as a wicketkeeper-batsman made it impossible for the Bengal wicketkeeper to maintain his place in the side, even on pitches helpful to spinners. New Zealand resumed their first innings at 129/0 with the openers Will Young and Tom Latham resuming on 75 and 50 respectively. Indian bowlers have been bowling well without too much luck and bounce from the surface that did not help the ball carry to the closing fielders.

Watch | Centurion Shreyas Iyer reveals motivational words from Sunil Gavaskar

Centurian on his Test debut, Shreyas Iyer could not have dreamt of a better start to his red-ball career. Coming into bat when every Indian batsman failed to convert their starts, Shreyas Iyer showed incredible maturity to score 105 runs off 171 balls on Day 2 of the first Test match between India and New Zealand. He scored runs at a healthy strike rate of 61.40 and helped put in a decent first innings total of 345 runs. Ahead of the game, Iyer was presented with his India cap by none other than legendary Sunil Gavaskar who had a chat with him pre-game. Iyer revealed on official broadcasters Star Sports what Gavaskar said on the day and termed it as motivational. “He obviously motivated me a lot while giving the cap. The words that stayed in my mind was that ‘you don’t look ahead too much, you don’t look at your past, but you stay in the present and think about the next ball.’ And that’s what I was doing when I went into the wicket.” Iyer, a household name due to his Indian Premier League exploits with the Delhi Capitals has made a strong case for himself for the tumultuous Indian middle-order, a position that has had strong debates over the past year. Many have been of the view that the old guard of captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara has to make way for the new generation of aggressive cricketers who can score runs at a rapid rate while protecting their wickets. Iyer, an injury substitute to KL Rahul, certainly will spark the debate once again going ahead of the South Africa series scheduled to take place in December.