New Zealand favourites to beat India after record-breaking day

New Zealand have restricted India to their lowest-ever Test total at home, bowling the hosts out for 46 runs to gain a commanding lead in the first match in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Cricket betting sites now have the Kiwis at just -151.52 to win, while India sit at long odds of +900.

After winning the toss, the hosts chose to bat first despite overcast conditions in a Test that already had its first day washed out.

The decision proved to be a gross misjudgement by Indian captain Rohit Sharma, as New Zealand’s fast bowlers had a field day with the swing on offer.

A raft of near misses meant the first wicket did not come until the seventh over, but when Sharma was bowled by Tim Southee, the Indian batters began to fall thick and fast.

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The 9/0 scoreline was suddenly 10/3, with Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan both exiting for ducks.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) and Rishabh Pant (20) stablised things somewhat, taking India through to 31/3.

Little did they realise that their scores would be the highest of the innings, as three more batsmen fell for zero, and another three for single figures.

Overall, the final seven Indian wickets came for just 15 runs, with the home team bundled out for just 46 runs from 31.2 overs.

The damage was done by Matt Henry and William O’Rourke, with Henry beating O’Rourke to a five-for and claiming his 100th Test wicket in the process.

With India losing 10 wickets in a little more than one session, their own bowlers were undoubtedly eager to get stuck into the Kiwi lineup.

However, New Zealand showed the conditions were not as treacherous as India made them appear, with Tom Latham and Devon Conway putting on 67 runs for the first wicket.

After Latham fell for 15 runs, Will Young came to the crease and batted well for his 33 runs, while Conway was bowled nine runs short of a ton.

At the close of play, New Zealand were at a commanding 180/3 with a 134-run lead.

India skipper Sharma admits fault after batting first

After day two, Sharma admitted that choosing to bat first was the wrong decision.

“You see and you try and make the judgement,” he said.

“Sometimes you make the right call, sometimes you don’t, and I was on the other side of it this time around.

“I’m hurting a little bit because I made that call.

“But see, for us as a team, I think these are the challenges.

“So, what if we put ourselves under pressure a little bit?

“We want to play well. We want to challenge ourselves.

“This time around, it didn’t come off, the challenges that were thrown at us.

“We didn’t respond well, and we found ourselves in a situation where we got bowled out for 46 runs.

“As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number, but in 365 days you’ll make two or three bad calls.

“That’s OK.”

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