India collapse 34-6 after opting to bat against New Zealand

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New Zealand fast bowler William O’Rourke picked up three wickets, including that of Virat Kohli, as India slumped to 34-6 at midday on the second day of the weather-hit first Test in Bengaluru on Thursday.

India won the toss and elected to bat in difficult overcast conditions after losing the first day to rain and soon found themselves in trouble.

Rishabh Pant was not yet 15 when lunch was taken after Matt Henry got Ravindra Jadeja to take a catch to point, becoming the fourth Indian to go scoreless.

Tim Southee struck first in the seventh over with the score at nine, bowling Indian captain Rohit Sharma through the gate with a sharp inswinger after he had made just two.

O’Rourke struck in his first over to catch Kohli at leg gully without increasing the score, silencing the home crowd.

Sarfaraz Khan came in at number four after replacing Shubman Gill, who was suffering from stiff neck.

But he only lasted three balls, Devon Conway grabbing a good one-handed catch at wide midfield to leave India reeling at 10-3 within 10 overs.

A brief rain break followed, but when the players returned there was no respite for India.

O’Rourke sent back Yashasvi Jaiswal, caught by Ajaz Patel for the 13th over with the score at 31, and KL Rahul, brought back by Tom Blundell, for another catch as India fell to 33-5.

Things could have been worse for India but Blundell dropped a simple catch from Pant when he was on seven.

India made two changes from the side that completed a 2-0 win over Bangladesh earlier this month, bringing in Sarfaraz and left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav in place of seamer Akash Deep.

Tom Latham took over as New Zealand captain after Southee resigned following the recent 2-0 series defeat in Sri Lanka.

New Zealand have won just two of their 36 previous Tests in India, their last victory coming in Mumbai in 1988.