Watch: Debutant Shreyas Iyer ended his maiden day in Test cricket in fine fashion, hitting a huge six off the last over off William Somerville’s bowling.
Iyer had a memorable debut outing with the bat as he ended Day One of the Kanpur Test between India and New Zealand on 75 off 136 deliveries. Walking in when the hosts were in a spot of bother at 145-4, Iyer dug deep and combined with Ravindra Jadeja to take the score to 258 at stumps without the fall of another wicket.
The Delhi Capitals batter, who had an first-class batting average of over 52 prior to the game along with a strike rate of 81.54, not only impressed with his ability to grind it out but also by hitting the occasional boundary that kept the run-rate ticking. His knock was laced with seven fours and two sixes, with the second one, in particular, grabbing attention.
William Somerville, sending down the last over of the day, bowled the second ball of the 84th over in the slot, which was smashed high towards mid-wicket by Iyer. Despite the light fading rapidly, the India player cashed in instead of playing him out and ensured Somerville paid the price for a loose delivery. It marked a remarkable end to Iyer’s maiden day in Test cricket, with Jadeja batting on 50 at the other end.
