Bengaluru, August 31: After their innings and 115-run loss at Hyderabad, the Ross Taylor-led Black Caps needed to come out with a positive intent in the second Test of the series. The change in their stance was evident from the get-go. Despite losing an early wicket, the Kiwis stuck to their newfound confident attitude and kept the Indian bowlers on their toes. Taylor himself took charge of the situation and scored a quickfire century, giving his side a strong foothold in this Test.
While the visitors seemed to be adjusting to the tricks on offer from the Indian spinners, Pragyan Ojha still managed to get four wickets, when most of his colleagues were dispatched to the fence quite regularly. Here are some interesting records that were broken on this day, which was clearly dominated by the New Zealand batsmen:
-
Gautam Gambhir was playing his 50th Test match. He became 26th Indian and only second left-handed batsman, after Sourav Ganguly, to appear in 50 Tests.
-
Sachin Tendulkar was playing his 24th test against New Zealand – the most by any player against the Kiwis. He moved ahead of Allan Border and Steve Waugh, who have played 23 tests against the Black Caps.
-
When Ross Taylor opted to bat first, it marked the 19th instance (in 20 Tests) when a toss-winning captain batted first at Bangalore. The only time this did not happen was in the inaugural Test at this ground in November 1974 when Nawab Pataudi Junior put the West Indies in to bat.
-
When he dismissed Brendon McCullum, it was the 40th occasion when Zaheer Khan got rid of a batsman without letting him open his account. Only four Indian bowlers – Anil Kumble (77), Kapil Dev (68), Harbhajan Singh (57) and Javagal Srinath (41) – have inflicted more ducks in Test cricket.
-
Ross Taylor (113) scored his seventh Test hundred – his third against India and first on Indian soil.
-
Taylor’s hundred was his second as New Zealand captain, after his 122* against Zimbabwe at Napier in January this year.
-
Taylor’s hundred is only the second by a New Zealand captain on Indian soil after Glenn Turner’s 113 at Kanpur in 1976-77.
-
Ross Taylor raced to his hundred off just 99 balls, which makes it the second-fastest hundred by a New Zealand batsman against India. Ian Smith had taken 95 balls for his hundred during his innings of 173 at Auckland in 1989-90.
-
Ross Taylor's 99-ball hundred is the fastest by a New Zealand captain in Tests. Martin Crowe had taken 108 balls for his hundred against Sri Lanka at SSC, Colombo, in 1992-93.
-
This is second time Taylor has scored a Test hundred within 100 balls. He had taken 81 balls for his hundred against Australia at Hamilton in 2010-11. Taylor thus became the first New Zealand batsman to score two Test hundreds in less than 100 balls.
-
New Zealand’s total of 328/6 is their highest ever on the opening day of a Test on Indian soil, beating 259 for six at Kolkata in 1964-65.
