India vs New Zealand, ICC WTC final: After Rohit and Kohli show, bad light forces early stumps on Day 2

India is playing New Zealand in the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship final at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Day 1 on Friday was washed out due to persistent rains. As the conditions remained overcast, India was in the driver's seat on Day 2.

India remained in the driver's seat on Day 2 of the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday. It was a decent show by Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli, only for bad light to force early stumps, with India at 146/3.

Winning the toss, Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson elected to bowl first, citing the gloomy conditions. While India moved in with three pacers and a couple of spinners, New Zealand has five pacers.

Although it was expected that the Kiwis could get some early breakthroughs, it did not happen as Rohit and Gill batted reasonably well, rotating the strike. Notably, the New Zealand pacer relied on out-swingers rather than in-swingers, continuously tempting the openers to play for it.

As the two contributed to a 62-run opener stand, it was Kyle Jamieson who got rid of Rohit for 34 after the outside edge travelled to Tim Southee in the slips, who dived to his right to complete a great catch. Next, in came Cheteshwar Pujara.

However, just a run later, Neil Wagner got rid of Gill for 28 in his first over, after a bit of edge comfortably carried behind to BJ Watling. It marked the arrival of skipper Virat Kohli in the crease as the two were batted it out until the lunch break, with India at 69/2.

Post lunch, the batsmen were off to a slow start, as with the ball moving around, the pair believed it would be alright to play safe, with Pujara switching to ultra-defensive mode. However, 19 runs later, Pujara was trapped leg-before by Trent Boult for a mere eight.

Out came vice-captain Rahane to join the skipper in the middle and the two took decent charge of the session. The pair contributed to an unbeaten stand of 30 until the tea break, while their slow batting seemingly frustrated the Kiwi bowlers, as the score read 120/3.

The post-tea session saw the pair continuing their dominance over the New Zealand bowlers as they brought up the 50-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, the final hour was marred by bad light, forcing early stumps, while the pair remained unbeaten on a 58-run stand, with Kohli just six short of his 26th Test half-century.

As for the Kiwis, they utilised five pacers. While Boult, Jamieson and Wagner have successfully achieved breakthroughs, Jamieson has also been the most economical.
Brief scores: India 146/3 (Kohli- 44*; Jamieson- 1/14) vs New Zealand

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