Santner joins legends on maiden outing

New Zealand allrounder Mitchell Santner has already earned plenty of comparisons to compatriot Daniel Vettori, but in the wash-up of the first Test in Kanpur, he's now being mentioned in the same sentence as another pair of cricket legends – Shane Warne and Sir Ian Botham.

And while a surface-level inspection might reveal more differences than similarities between that duo and the mild-mannered Santner, it's a statistical fact that brings the trio together.

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With returns of 3-94 and 2-79 and scores of 32 and 71 across an intriguing five days that ultimately belonged to India in their 500th Test, Santner carved out his own slice of history, becoming the first visiting player to take five or more wickets and score 100-plus runs in their maiden Test in India since Botham in February 1980.

Warne and former Australia off-spinner Gavin Robertson were the last foreign players to score 50 or more runs and take five wickets in a maiden Test in India, both achieving the feat in Chennai in March 1998.

But only Santner, Botham, and another Kiwi allrounder, Bruce Taylor (1965), have combined 100 runs for the match with five or more wickets on their first outing in India.

Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson was delighted with the performance of the 24-year-old, who only made his Test debut last November in Australia and was playing his eighth match in Kanpur.

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"He played outstandingly well," Williamson said post-match. "It's his first time in this part of the world playing Test cricket and it was a great step in the right direction for his game.

"We all know he has got the talent with bat and ball and in the field, to apply himself like he did and bowl a number of overs and be successful was very good against good players of spin, it was a huge positive for us.

"He'll look forward to the next one and I'm sure he's learned a lot from this experience."

New Zealand will head into the second Test with at least one change to their bowling attack after off-spinner Mark Craig suffered a side strain, with veteran Jeetan Patel expected to come in as a like-for-like replacement.

"Jeetan is up to speed from a bowling load perspective having recently completed a successful county season so he will be ready for the rigours of Test cricket," said NZ coach Mike Hesson.