Latham-Young opening stand gives New Zealand steady start after Tim Southee five-for

The visitors went to tea at 72 for 0 in Kanpur in reply to India’s 345 built on Shreyas Iyer’s debut ton

Tea New Zealand 72 for 0 (Young 46*, Latham 23*) trail India 345 (Iyer 105, Gill 52, Jadeja 50, Southee 5-69, Jamieson 3-91) by 273 runs

Despite that comeback with the ball, New Zealand were still chasing the game when they began their reply, knowing they would be batting last on a pitch already showing plenty of signs of inconsistent bounce, against an attack including two world-class spinners and another extremely accurate one. In that context, they did very well to go to tea at 72 for no loss, even as India’s attack probed away threateningly, looking to exploit any vagaries of turn or bounce on offer.

Kyle Jamieson was New Zealand’s most impactful performer on day one, but he began day two completely out of rhythm, and Iyer, resuming on 75, hit him for five fours in his first three overs of the morning to hurry into the 90s. He brought up his hundred in Jamieson’s next over, with a sliced drive for two backward of point.

By then, though, Southee had already made a crucial incision. He began the day with four balls wide of Jadeja’s off stump, delivered from around the wicket, and the left-hander shouldered arms to all of them. He followed it with one that swung sharply into the stumps, and Jadeja, stuck in his crease, played down the wrong line and was struck on the back pad, with an umpire’s call verdict on height saving him after New Zealand reviewed the initial not-out decision.

Southee didn’t have to wait long to get his man, though. A similar delivery in his next over drew a similar, leaden-footed response, and this time the ball rattled into the stumps via the inside edge.

The wickets kept coming. A pair of full outswingers that weren’t quite full enough to drive prised out Wriddhiman Saha and Iyer; the first, delivered from wide of the crease, drew an off-drive down the wrong line, and the second, delivered from the middle of the box and swerving away straight out of the hand, scrambled the batter’s shape on the drive, the slowness of the pitch also contributing to the ball being spooned to cover point.

Then, in his eighth over of the morning, Southee alternated inswingers to the left-handed Axar Patel with scrambled-seam balls that straightened off the pitch. Axar played and missed at the first scrambled-seam ball, and hung his bat out and edged the second to the keeper. India were 313 for 8.

By then, Ashwin was already on 20 off 22 balls, having come in and taken on Southee’s outswingers, steering, slicing and driving him for three fours in the arc between backward point and extra-cover. Southee kept his spell going for three more overs in the quest to finish the innings off, but Ashwin farmed the strike, refusing singles in the early part of his overs to keep Umesh away from the strike as much as possible.

Ashwin could have been dismissed for 16 when he stepped out to Ajaz Patel and missed an attempted lofted hit, with the ball scooting through unexpectedly low. The ball, however, narrowly missed off stump and bounced off Tom Blundell’s pad before he could react. It could have been the first wicket to fall to a spinner in this Test match, but as on day one – when he missed reviewing an lbw decision against Shubman Gill – the luck wasn’t quite with Ajaz.

It turned after lunch, though, as he spun one out of the footmarks and past the outside edge to bowl Ashwin, and got one to skid through with the arm to trap Ishant Sharma plumb in front.