Kohli, Rahane put India in control

India 267 for 3 (Kohli 103*, Rahane 79*) v New ZealandScorecard and ball-by-ball details

An unbroken partnership of 167 between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the highest of the series so far, put India in control at the end of Indore’s first day of Test cricket. Kohli ended the day on 103, his 13th Test hundred. It was by no means his most enthralling innings, but it was utterly dominant in that he gave New Zealand no inch on a largely attritional day. Rahane, less certain, gutsed it out to stay unbeaten on 79 and India were 267 for 3.

Having come together at 100 for 3, with the match in the balance, Kohli and Rahane gradually asserted India’s dominance in front of an enthusiastic crowd numbering over 18,000. Having started watchfully – they added 48 in 20 overs before tea – they grew increasingly fluent, scoring 119 in the final session in 34 overs, at exactly three-and-a-half runs an over.

All five of New Zealand’s bowlers were disciplined and had well-thought-out plans, but there was little help for them off a pitch that wasn’t the greatest to look at, with cracks all over its surface, but played more or less true on the first day, if a little slow. The offspinner Jeetan Patel was their best bowler, but his figures – 1 for 65 off 24 overs – told a story: he frequently beat the batsmen in the air, but they usually managed to adjust since it didn’t turn all that much or all that quickly once it landed.

Kohli came into the match with scores of 44, 3, 4, 9, 18, 9 and 45 in his last seven Test innings, but the last of them, in Kolkata, had been a superb display of footwork and judgment on a pitch with uneven bounce. It suggested he wasn’t really out of form.

Again, in Indore, he avoided the extravagant shots that had got him out in his first three innings of the series, and accumulated steadily, blending into the background for most part. He didn’t offer any clear chances, and the two times he edged the ball, it eluded the fielders: on 39, drift caused him to edge Patel between keeper and slip; on 69, he reached out at a wide-ish length ball from James Neesham, and edged through the vacant slip region.

Otherwise, New Zealand could see no way past him and, every now and again, he roused the crowd with his strokeplay. There were a couple of his trademark extra-cover drives, but his most …

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