NZ XI v IND 2020: Agarwal regains form, Pant bids for Test return as warm-up game ends in draw 

The Indian team built up nicely towards the Test series with fine performance in the three-day warm-up game.

Mayank Agarwal | GettyMayank Agarwal regaining form and Rishabh Pant bidding for a return to the Indian Test XI were the main talking points from the third and final day of the three-day warm-up encounter against New Zealand XI that ended as a draw on Sunday (February 16) at the Seddon Park, Hamilton. 

While Agarwal retired with a free-flowing 81, Pant blasted away a 65-ball 70 before being dismissed in the second innings as the visitors ended with 252/4 in the 48 overs they batted, stretching the 28-run first-innings lead to 280 runs. 

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Apart from Agarwal and Pant, opener Prithvi Shaw (39), who looks set to open in the first Test in Wellington in absence of Rohit Sharma, also got some time in the middle, and so did Pant's direct competition Wriddhiman Saha (30*) and Ravichandran Ashwin (16*) before the bails were dislodged for the final time in the game. 

Daryl Mitchell, the captain of New Zealand XI, bagged three wickets in his spell of 3/33 in the second innings where the hosts shared their workload quite well. 

Earlier in the game, resolute knocks from Cheteshwar Pujara (93) and Hanuma Vihari (101*) either side of a collapse on a green top, propelled visitors past the 250-run mark in the first innings. 

Scott Kuggeleijn (4/30), Jake Gibson (2/26) and Ish Sodhi (3/72) did the bulk of the damage.

Performances from Jasprit Bumrah (2/18), Mohammed Shami (2/48), Umesh Yadav (2/49) and Navdeep Saini (2/58), however, surpassed the hosts' bowling effort, dismissing New Zealand XI for only 235 and building up nicely towards the two-match Test series that begins on February 21. 

Brief scores: 

India 263/10 (Hanuma Vihari 101*, Cheteshwar Pujara 93; Scott Kuggeleijn 3/40) & 252/4 (Mayank Agarwal 81*, Rishabh Pant 70; Daryl Mitchell 3/33) versus New Zealand XI (Henry Cooper 40, Rachin Ravindra 34; Mohammed Shami 3/17, Jasprit Bumrah 2/18) - drawn 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 16 Feb, 2020

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