New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won his first toss on the India tour and elected to bat first. His decision was proved right by his openers as Tom Latham and Martin Guptill gave the Kiwis a flying start. The opening duo added 96 runs off only 93 balls before Latham was dismissed for 39 by Axar Patel. However, Guptill continued his fine display with the bat and scored 72 runs.
However, just like the previous matches, losing wickets at regular intervals after getting a strong start made it tough for the visitors to score freely. The disciplined bowling from the Indian spinners made the task of scoring quickly even tougher for the Kiwis. The visitors finally ended their innings on 260 for 7.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni’s brilliant no-look run out of Ross Taylor was the highlight of the innings.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the first half of the match:
Other Players Know Where The Fielder's Are…
Dhoni Knows Where The Stumps Are !!#IndvsNZ
— Babu Bhaiya (@Shahrcasm) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/gautamverma23/status/791239793715785729
God created Man!
Man created Cricket!
&
Then
We had 'M S Dhoni' #worldclass #mahi #fanlove— DJ Akhil Talreja (@djakhiltalreja) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/SmokingSkills_/status/791247079431507968
New Zealand should be very proud of this batting effort. They have kept Kedar Jadhav wicketless #indvsnz
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/94sritama4crick/status/791240179197423617
So Ross Taylor has been stunned twice in two days by Dhoni #indvsnz pic.twitter.com/Zh9YTh02nT
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/791236905895473153
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/791236481356476416
Dhoni's wicket-keeping skills just keeps on improving with his age!!! That run-out of Ross Taylor was just another example!! #indvsnz
— DevrajR (@sports_freak_rd) October 26, 2016
Ross Taylor taken out of the agony to accelerate #indvsnz
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) October 26, 2016
Amit Mishra taking Jadhav's wickets, so whose will Jadhav take?
Easy, Kiwis have 10 wickets to give#indvsnz
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) October 26, 2016
Dismissed Kiwi batsmen thrilled at not being dismissed by Kedar Jadhav#indvsNZ
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/SirIshantSharma/status/791203204067450882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Williamson must have a lot of faith in his bowlers to ask India to chase. But that can only have meaning if his batsmen come good
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 26, 2016
India Won The Toss And Asked Matin Guptill To Do Bhumi Pujan First. 😉#INDvsNZ #INDvNZ
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) October 26, 2016