IND vs NZ: The India vs. New Zealand first test is underway as the Rohit Sharma-led side suffered an initial setback first due to rainfall and then due to a very unconvincing performance in the first inning. However, they bounced back slowly in the third inning as India looked to stabilize their innings.
The Rohit Sharma-led side came into bat in the second Indian innings when they trailed the score by a huge 356 runs, to which India responded firmly. The Indian team seemed much strengthened, as openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave India the best start they could.
Rohit Sharma smashed a fifty as this half-century helped them get to the score early on; later, Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan pulled off a big score for India. During this amazing feat on Day 3 of the first test against New Zealand, the Indian team surpassed England’s record of 89-test sixes in a calendar year.
India made history for the first time in 147 years of Test history by emerging as the first-ever cricket team to have hit 100 sixes in a single calendar year in 2024, with several more test matches still remaining in the hunt.
Jaiswal has been the top contributor as he has hit 29 sixes, while 16 sixes have been hit by Shubman Gill as well, while India became the first team with a century of sixes in the longest format of red-ball cricket. Currently, England with 68 sixes is the team with the second most sixes in this calendar year.
The Indian innings comprised Rohit Sharma’s quickfire 52 early on, while later contributors marked Virat Kohli’s 70 runs, where the legendary cricketer went on to score stunning 9000 Test runs in his Test career as he joined the likes of elite Indian cricketers.
Now India would have the task of covering the trail of 125 runs during the first test while also scoring a huge pile of 250+ runs to give the Blackcaps a big target to chase. This would see the Indians adding some hope to their chances in the first test.
