• Source:JND
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India vs New Zealand 1st Test: Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan stepped up for India in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Friday.

The M.Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed yet another masterclass from Kohli as he brought him his 31st Test half-century.

This was his first Test fifty in 2024 and he reached the milestone in 70 deliveries on the back of five fours and a six.

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On the other hand, Sarfaraz, who joined Virat in the middle after Rohit Sharma's dismissal, also smashed his fifty.

Sarfaraz looked in great touch and was scoring at a promising strike rate which not only took away pressure from him but also from Virat.

Notably, both the batters were dismissed for 0 in the first innings during which India were bowled out for just 46 runs.

However, the duo of Virat and Sarfaraz stitched a 100-run stand for the third wicket in the second innings.

Sarfaraz, who made his Test debut earlier this year against England in the absence of Virat, made it count on his return to the side as he missed the Bangladesh series.

Aiming to make a challenging comeback in the ongoing match, India were off to a brilliant start in their second innings as Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a 72-run opening stand.

While Jaiswal was dismissed for 35 runs, Rohit went on to score an incredible fifty. He led from the front after the disappointment in the first innings and scored 52 runs with the help of eight fours and a six.

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Kohli had his batting order changed as he was shifted to no.3 in the absence of Shubman Gill whereas Sarfaraz took over the no.4 role and capitalised on the opportunity.

 

India vs New Zealand 1st Test Playing XIs:

New Zealand: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj