{"id":2913,"date":"2026-10-24T08:37:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/24\/new-zealand-a-lead-india-a-collapse-lincoln\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T08:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:37:42","slug":"new-zealand-a-lead-india-a-collapse-lincoln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/24\/new-zealand-a-lead-india-a-collapse-lincoln\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand A take 22\u2011run lead as India A tumble on a green top"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Day one of the unofficial Test between the two A sides in Lincoln ended with New\u202fZealand A holding a 22\u2011run advantage over India A. After winning the toss, the home side chose to field first on a green\u2011topped wicket that offered ample seam and swing. The visitors struggled against the moving ball, managing just 113 runs in 39.2 overs before being dismissed.<\/p>\n<h2>India A\u2019s batting woes<\/h2>\n<p>The innings began with the loss of opening batsman KL\u202fRahul, who was caught attempting a risky shot and was out without scoring. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had survived the first few deliveries, eventually fell for 17 after edging a delivery to first slip. Early breakthroughs continued as Simon\u202fKeene dismissed Sai\u202fSudharsan for a duck, followed shortly by captain Dhruv\u202fJurel, who made just one run before a collision with Fraser\u202fSheat forced a run\u2011out.<\/p>\n<p>Devdutt\u202fPadikkal, promoted to number three, provided a brief respite with a steady 32 before edging a delivery to the keeper at the start of the second session. At that point, India A found themselves precariously placed at 56 for five. The middle order offered little resistance; Washington\u202fSundar was dismissed without scoring, and the lower order failed to add meaningful runs.<\/p>\n<p>Anshul\u202fKamboj managed a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at deep fine leg. Within three balls, Auqib\u202fNabi and Akash\u202fDeep also fell, leaving the side at 81 for nine. With the innings teetering on the brink of a double\u2011digit total, Yash\u202fRathod steadied the ship, launching an aggressive counter\u2011attack that included three sixes. Rathod remained unbeaten on 44, ensuring the visitors posted a total of 113. The final wicket fell when Simon\u202fKeene removed Mukesh\u202fChoudhary for his fifth wicket, completing the collapse.<\/p>\n<h2>New Zealand A\u2019s steady reply<\/h2>\n<p>In response, New\u202fZealand A\u2019s openers Curtis\u202fHeaphy and captain Rhys\u202fMariu navigated the same challenging conditions with composure. Early chances fell to the Indian side; Akash\u202fDeep induced a false shot in the sixth over, but Jaiswal\u2019s edge was caught at third slip, preventing a breakthrough. Mariu, unbeaten on five at the close of the first session, continued to build his innings patiently, eventually reaching a half\u2011century in the final session. He displayed a mix of defensive technique and selective aggression, adding a few powerful boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>Heaphy contributed a solid 37 not out, supporting the captain as the partnership surpassed the 100\u2011run mark. The seamers kept probing, but the pair managed to rotate the strike and capitalize on loose deliveries. When Mukesh\u202fChoudhary finally broke through, he trapped Mariu in front for 76, ending the partnership.<\/p>\n<p>Following the dismissal, night\u2011watchman Jayden\u202fLennox was taken by Auqib\u202fNabi, who then claimed Tim\u202fRobinson leg before off in the very next ball, putting himself within striking distance of a hat\u2011trick. With only one over remaining in the day, Nabi would have to wait until the start of day two to complete the feat. New\u202fZealand A concluded the session at 135 for three, leading by 22 runs.<\/p>\n<h2>Key bowling performances<\/h2>\n<p>Simon\u202fKeene was the standout bowler for the hosts, finishing with figures of five wickets for 24 runs. His early spell set the tone, removing three top\u2011order batsmen in quick succession and maintaining relentless pressure throughout the innings. Zak\u202fGibson also chipped in with three wickets for 29 runs, providing crucial support.<\/p>\n<p>For India A, the most notable bowling effort came from Auqib\u202fNabi, who claimed two wickets for 31 runs and flirted with a hat\u2011trick. Mukesh\u202fChoudhary, despite a modest return of one wicket for 30 runs, bowled a tight spell that kept the New\u202fZealand side from accelerating further.<\/p>\n<p>The day\u2019s statistics underline the influence of the green top. Seamers on both sides extracted movement, and the batting line\u2011ups struggled to settle. While New\u202fZealand A managed to build a partnership that crossed the century threshold, India A\u2019s top order collapsed repeatedly, highlighting the difficulty of batting under such conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, the result sets up an intriguing contest for the second day. New\u202fZealand A will aim to extend their lead, while India A will look to regroup and adapt to the seam\u2011friendly pitch. The performances of emerging talents such as Devdutt\u202fPadikkal, Yash\u202fRathod and Rhys\u202fMariu will be closely watched as the unofficial Test progresses toward its conclusion.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a seam\u2011friendly pitch in Lincoln, New Zealand A posted 135\/3 while India A were bundled out for 113, leaving the visitors 22 runs behind after day one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2389,3248,3247,1551,2391],"class_list":["post-2913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-india-a","tag-lincoln","tag-new-zealand-a","tag-test-cricket","tag-unofficial-test","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}