IND v NZ, First Test: Latham and Somerville keep India at bay with stubborn resistance

Tom Latham and William Somerville put up a show of stubborn resistance to keep India at bay during day five of the ongoing first Test against India at the Green Park Stadium here on Monday. At lunch, New Zealand are 79/1 and need 205 runs to win with Latham (35 not out) and Somerville (36 not out) at the crease.

Resuming from overnight score of 4/1, it was a solid first session of final day in the Test for the visitors as Latham and Somerville showed great application in scoring 75 runs in 31 overs. The duo started well without taking any needless risk. They were rigid in defence, though Ravichandran Ashwin troubled them often while plucking boundaries against the pace of Umesh Yadav.

Latham was the first to take a boundary off Yadav, glancing through fine leg while Somerville struck a straight drive. Somerville then crunched delightful back-foot drives on consecutive deliveries off Yadav through off-side and was lucky in getting a boundary off the outer edge of Ishant Sharma.

India seemed to be a bit frustrated over not getting their first wicket of the day. Such was the desperation to get a wicket that they took a review for a Latham lbw despite the impact outside the off-stump, thereby wasting a review.

As the stand for the second wicket crossed the half-century mark, the duo resorted to strike rotation against the left-arm spin of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Though Ashwin beat the outer edge and got some turn in the last few overs before lunch, India will be hoping to get a breakthrough in the second session to push New Zealand on backfoot in a tall chase.

Brief Scores: India 345 (Shreyas Iyer 105, Tim Southee 5/69) and 234/7 decl in 81 overs (Shreyas Iyer 65, Kyle Jamieson 3/40) vs New Zealand 296 in 142.3 overs (Tom Latham 95, Axar Patel 5/62) and 79/1 in 35 overs (William Somerville 36 not out, Tom Latham 35 not out, Ravichandran Ashwin 1/19). NZ need 205 runs to win.