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Ind Vs Nz 1St Test Wriddhiman Saha Scores First Test Fifty Since 2017 India Set 284 As Target

IND vs NZ | 1st Test: Wriddhiman Saha scores first Test fifty since 2017; India set 284 as target

India wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha played a crucial knock after he notched up a half-century against New Zealand in the second innings of the first Test in Kanpur. The right-handed batsman went past the 50-run mark for the first time since 2017.

The hosts were in a spot of bother despite taking the first innings lead as they were reduced to 51/5 in the first session of the penultimate day of the Test. But Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin steadied the ship for the side and stitched a stand of 52 runs for the sixth wicket. Ashwin was eventually undone for 32 by Kyle Jamieson.

Iyer was then joined by Saha in the middle and the two batters put up an important partnership of 64 runs for the seventh wicket. Iyer who became the first Indian to score a century and a fifty on his debut match was sent back in the hut by Tim Southee while Saha went on to score a half-century and remained unbeaten at 61 as India declared the second innings at 234/7 handing a target of 284 runs to New Zealand.

The contribution made by Saha holds a lot of importance as he was suffering from a stiff neck issue and didn’t keep wickets in the first innings. KS Bharat had replaced him in the middle

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Watch: Gurinder Sandhu becomes first Australian to take two List A hat-tricks

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R Ashwin surpasses Wasim Akram in number of wickets in Tests

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