The skipper of the New Zealand team, Ross Taylor, has scored a brilliant century on the first day of the second test match against India at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru.

Right from the moment Ross Taylor walked on to the park for toss, he looked quite determined. After winning the toss, he could have easily opted to bowl under the overcast conditions, but, he decided to bat first because he knew that all his team had to do is to get through the first hour and then, the conditions would be extremely favourable for batting.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni surprised everyone by giving Pragyan Ojha the new ball. The two fast bowlers were expected to start the proceedings under the overcast conditions. But, Martin Guptill’s tentativeness against the spinners might have prompted Dhoni to give the first over to Ojha.

Zaheer Khan gave New Zealand the first blow by trapping Brendon McCullum in front of the stumps. The ball pitched in the line of the middle stump and nipped back. Mccullum was caught in the crease.

Martin Guptill played some delightful shots through off side and he was pretty severe against Umesh Yadav who was quite wayward in his direction. New Zealand lost the second wicket in the form of Kane Williamson. It was an arm ball from Ojha. Williamson played for the turn, was hit on the back leg and the umpire’s finger went up.

Ross Taylor came to bat after the fall of Williamson’s wicket and he looked apart right from the outset. He played his trade mark slog sweeps and he also played genuine sweep shots which he doesn’t play too often. It seemed that he had done his homework pretty well. He never let the spinners settle down and played at a brisk pace.

He put up a 100-run stand with Daniel Flynn.  The partnership was broken when Flynn was adjudged leg before wicket while trying to sweep Ravichandran Ashwin. Taylor continued dominating the Indian spinners and completed his seventh test century in the meantime.

The New Zealand skipper got out in the fifth over after tea and it seemed that the Indian spinners would run away with the New Zealand lower order. But, Kruger Van Wyk and Doug Bracewell showed excellent temperament and saw off the day for the Kiwis. At the end of the first day’s play, the score of New Zealand was 328 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.