Live Cricket Score of India vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 1 at Kolkata

A 0-1 deficit in a three-match series is not easy to overturn. Particularly not against India, in India. To do so without your regular captain and the side's best batsman would be nothing short of a herculean task. These are the odds New Zealand face as they step into the hallowed Eden Gardens for the second Test. A 'crook' Kane Williamson has been forced out of the game and Ross Taylor will lead the visitors in his absence.

But while the problem is for real, it also offers a genuine possibility - an opportunity for someone to stand up and be counted. Taylor will have to use all his experience to marshal this eclectic bunch. And this is New Zealand. They thrive when they're being written off. So expect them to come at India just as hard.

And India? Well they're on an upswing and the news of Williamson sitting out would make them firm favourites to clinch the series. There's a No.1 Test ranking to be had along the way. They should be just as pumped up.

Welcome to Eden Gardens for game number 2 of this Test series. The drama has already begun...

With less than an hour to go for the toss, a massive piece of news has trickled in. Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the Kolkata Test due to illness. Ross Taylor will lead the side in his absence. Can the visitors, who arrive in Rainbow City with the hope of gaining level pegging in the series, cope without their regular skipper? Who can fill the Williamson-shaped void in the line-up? New Zealand management have a massive task to address before the start of the game.

Right. From the player who isn't playing to the ones who could be in. New Zealand will probably have a more straightforward decision to make. Henry Nicholls is likely to come in for Kane Williamson. Jeetan Patel would come in to for Mark Craig. Will the visitors give in to the the temptation to play an extra seamer? Matt Henry could come in for Ish Sodhi.

But who comes in for the injured KL Rahul for India. There's been a rather surprising return for veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir but the overwhelming thought is that Shikhar Dhawan has the first right of refusal for that role.

Who would you pick? What about Jayant Yadav the other off-spinner? Would India be tempted to field him with New Zealand likely to throw in another left-hander? Send in your opinions with a Tweet to @kaushik_cb.

Virat Kohli wins his sixth consecutive toss in home Tests (100%) and India will bat on an Eden surface with mild grass cover. Kohli channeling his inner Misbah here with the tosses. No Gautam Gambhir for India while Umesh makes way for Bhuvneshwar. On the other hand, New Zealand are going in with an extra seamer. Interesting!

India:

OUT - KL Rahul and Umesh YadavIN - Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar
OUT - KL Rahul and Umesh YadavIN - Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

New Zealand:

OUT - Kane Williamson, Mark Craig and Ish SodhiIN - Henry Nicholls, Jeetan Patel and Matt Henry
OUT - Kane Williamson, Mark Craig and Ish SodhiIN - Henry Nicholls, Jeetan Patel and Matt Henry

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor(c), Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, BJ Watling(w), Jeetan Patel, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner

India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

What they said?

'We will bat first, looks like a pretty hard surface with a good grass coverage, should help the seamers in the first session, should turn out to be a good batting surface later. Bhuvneshwar replaces Umesh Yadav, we feel he will be useful with the new ball in these conditions' - Virat Kohli

'Disappointing not to have our premier skipper, not just as captain, but he's the number two batsman in the world. He has had fever for the last couple of days, that's unfortunate and he's still sick this morning, but happens in such humidity. It's a big loss' - Ross Taylor

The national anthems are done. Kapil Dev rings the bell to signal start of play and the players walk out to bat.

Ho! Ho! Ho! What is that? Bounce and swing for Trent Boult to start. Sharp bounce!"It's absolutely taken off. Reminiscent to the old times of WACA," says Stephen Fleming on air. Shikhar Dhawan does well to leave balls outside off and pinch a single off the one bowled closer to him. Strap yourselves in folks. Here's Matt Henry

Early breakthrough for New Zealand. Not the start India would have envisioned after electing to bat. Matt Henry puts this one outside the off-stump, testing Dhawan's judgement. The left-hander can't resisted a horizontal bat cut shot and drags it back on to his stumps. What a start for the visitors. Dhawan certainly won't share that emotion.

An absorbing battle is ongoing presently. Boult and Henry are making the ball talk and Vijay and Pujara have been resolute. They'll just need to see off this opening burst. Good ol fashioned Test cricket. Pujara, in particular, has been at his fluent best any time the ball has been overpitched. A flick, an off drive. Class.

This had been a steady stand but not without the odd hiccup but Matt Henry gives the visitors the second breakthrough just before drinks on the first morning. There's a little assistance from umpire who forces Henry to go wide off the crease to avoid treading on the danger area. It changed the trajectory and now forced Vijay to play the angle. It shaped away to take the edge. Vijay did little wrong there.

It's interesting that Taylor isn't attacking new batsman Kohli with pace from both ends. Mitchell Santner comes into the attack. Neil Wagner will bustle in from the other end. This has been slow progress from India but an engrossing session of cricket nevertheless. About 45 minutes to go for Lunch. Another wicket here will put New Zealand right on top.

New Zealand shelve the short ball theory from Wagner and go full with Boult. It pays off instantly. Kohli can't restrain himself. After timing one through extra cover for four, he chases another wide delivery and hits it uppishly towards gully. Tom Latham takes a fine catch. A disappointing dismissal for Kohli. His poor patch continues post that double hundred at North Sound. New Zealand well on top.

New Zealand put behind the disappointment of losing Kane Williamson to an illness on the eleventh hour, the Kolkata humidity and the scourge of losing another toss to lay down an early marker in the Eden Gardens Test. Matt Henry's double strike and Trent Boult's dismissal of Virat Kohli late in the session left the hosts precariously placed at 57 for 3 after an absorbing opening session of Test match cricket at the fabled Indian venue.

By all means, the opening hour of the second Test was a throwback to distant era with bowlers and the pitch calling all the shots. Both the captains acknowledged the presence of grass by including a swing bowler each with Bhuvneshwar Kumar replacing Umesh Yadav for India while New Zealand reversed the 3-2 spin balance with the inclusion of seamer Matt Henry for Ish Sodhi.

The 24-year-old pacer from Canterbury didn't take along to make an impact in the game. Shikhar Dhawan, preferred over Gautam Gambhir to take the opening slot vacated by KL Rahul, succumbed to his indecision in judging the line of the delivery. The ball was too close for a cut and ricocheted off the inside edge on to the stumps. It was a joyous start for New Zealand, who sought a quick start to their pursuit of levelling the series. Dhawan, making a comeback of his own, certainly didn't share New Zealand's emotion.

The pitch and Kohli's decision to bat quickly became the cynosure of all eyes as balls from Trent Boult and Henry bounced and seamed around, testing the Indiam batsmen's resolve. Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay also had to contend with uneven bounce, making survival that much more difficult.

The runs came albeit at an almighty trickle as two of India's best for such a situation dug in. The first 10 overs had brought 24 runs but when a couple of Pujara drives bisected the fielders in the circle, there was a sense of the hosts having turned a dangerous corner. And then, Henry struck again.

The wicket of Vijay, incidentally, was brought about by a warning from the umpire. Having been warned against stepping on the danger area of the pitch, Henry moved to bowling wider off the crease and did the batsmen in with the new trajectory. Vijay was forced to play the angle and the ball shaped away, ever so late, to take the outside edge.

Even as Pujara continued to offer an assured presence in the middle against the seamers, Taylor brought on Mitchell Santner from one end and had Neil Wagner reprise his bouncer strategy against Kohli from the other. After an attritional period of play that India appeared to have fought to safety, they fell further behind. Boult coming back for another crack before the lunch interval tempted the Indian captain into playing a loose drive outside the off-stump. Tom Latham latched onto a sharp catch at gully, adding to Kohli's relatively lean patch in Tests after the double hundred in Antigua in July.

Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane survived a couple of nervy moments before the break but ensured India suffered no further casualties ahead of what promises to be a big fight ahead of them.

Ross Taylor begins with his strike bowler, Matt Henry straight after lunch. It's gotten extremely hot in Kolkata. That'll be a factor in this session for the visitors. Jeetan Patel from the other end. There is gentle turn on surface. If there's as much bounce as there was in the morning session, these spinners will be in play.

The two batsmen are taking a calculated approach to batting. Matt Henry has bowled five accurate short deliveries which have either been dead batted or left alone. Then the odd full delivery has been milked away to the fence for boundaries. The heat is having its say already. Wagner's short balls have loss their bite.

Been a good partnership for India. Cheteshwar Pujara has got himself an important half-century. He was stuck for a long time on 46 but, more importantly, hasn't lost his focus. A boundary through point gives him his half century. Nobody is talking about strike-rates now for sure. These two have batted exceedingly well. Rahane survives a moment of indiscretion, surviving a near catch chance off Jeetan Patel.

After a spell of three consecutive maidens, Pujara and Rahane milked 37 runs of four overs. Clearly, the New Zealand bowlers were struggling with the heat. Pujara had raced to 87 before one lapse cost the soft-spoken batsman his century. Hits this full delivery straight at Martin Guptill at short cover. Wagner is pumped up! Unfortunate end to a nearly flawless innings. End of a 141-run stand.

Time for Rohit Sharma now!

Rohit suffers an almighty fall and that clears appears to have disrupted his rhythm (well not rhythm exactly... he was on). Jeetan Patel gets this ball to kick up more than usual and the ball goes off Rohit's blade on to the thigh pad and to the forward short leg fielder. Soft dismissal again. New Zealand are right back after that big Pujara-Rahane stand. More work for Rahane to do now. Marshall this Indian tail, if you can call it that.

Here's Ravichandran Ashwin.

Now this is a big wicket just before the second new ball is taken. Jeetan Patel strikes again. Rahane plays back to this off break, the ball keeps a tad low and pings him in front of the stumps. Straight forward decision. He's gone for 77.

That's a third wicket for Matt Henry. He's toiled hard on a hot, humid day and reaped the rewards with a three-wicket haul. The wicket of Ashwin firmly tilts the game in New Zealand's favour. The offspinner was looking excellent as usual, timing the ball past onlooking fielders. Henry gets one to come back in after pitching and traps Ashwin on the pads. It's a 50-50 call but one that goes New Zealand's way. India end the day at 239/7 after 86 overs. They wouldn't be happy with that especially after winning the toss and enjoying that big Rahane-Pujara stand.

According to sessions, it'll end 2-1 to New Zealand!

That's it from Day 1. Do join us tomorrow for more action from Eden Gardens!