India’s Shreyas Iyer scores century on Test debut vs New Zealand
Middle order batsman reaches the landmark as India consolidate in Kanpur
Kanpur: India’s Shreyas Iyer raced to a century on debut Friday on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.
Picking up from his overnight score of 75, Iyer looked comfortable at the crease as he hit two fours in the first over off Kyle Jamieson, the Black Caps’ standout bowler on Thursday.
Iyer reached his unbeaten 100 off 157 balls with 12 fours and two sixes to steady India after an afternoon wobble on the first day. He eventually fell for 105, caught by Will Young off a persistent Tim Southee.
The debutant lost his overnight partner Ravindra Jadeja, who couldn’t add to his score of 50 runs, to probing lines of Southee early Friday.
The tryst with Kanpur, however, is not new for Iyer. In 2019, he saved the Mumbai Ranji team with his gritty knock of 75 against the formidable attack of Pravin Kumar, Ankit Rajpoot and Piyush Chawla.
Incidentally, Iyer is the second Indian batsman to have scored a century on Test debut in Kanpur - the first being the legendary G.R. Vishwanath against Australia in 1967.