NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Will Somerville and Tom Latham frustrated India in a wicketless morning session to keep alive New Zealand’s hopes of winning the opening test in Kanpur on Monday.
Set a victory target of 284 runs on a worn-out track, the pair batted resolutely to guide New Zealand to 79-1 at lunch on the final day at the Green Park Stadium.
Latham was on 35 at the break and Somerville on 36, with New Zealand needing 205 to go 1-0 up in the two-test series.
Somerville had walked out as nightwatchman after Will Young’s late dismissal on Sunday but played like a specialist batsman after New Zealand resumed on 14-1.
It was an indication of how comfortable he felt against the Indian attack when he hit seamer Umesh Yadav for back-to-back boundaries.
India blew a review trying to get Latham lbw, and the closest they came to a wicket was to induce a couple of edges that fell agonisingly short of fielders.
Their spinners often beat the bat but their seamers looked somewhat jaded on a surface where the ball kept low and did not turn as much as expected from a final day surface in the sub-continent.
The second and final test is scheduled in Mumbai from Friday.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
