There was nothing flashy about M Vijay’s innings of 65. It was just a display of neat footwork, immaculate patience with no irrational shots. The bad balls were put away, deliveries that turned were closely watched and slipped into gaps with generous ease. Even his leaves back to the wicket-keeper were a treat to watch. It was typical Vijay on display - playing the patience game and waiting for the bad deliveries to be put away. Vijay made a stable half century and shared a century stand with Cheteshwar Pujara to steady the Indian innings after they were 42-1 in the 11th over of the morning. Though Vijay missed out on a deserving century, he was glad he could start off the series with a calm and composed half century. “Personally, I would like to believe that it has been a good start for me. I just want to carry on from here and look forward to get a bigger score in the next innings. Hopefully when I get to another half century, I add up to it and play longer,” he told BCCI.TV. Vijay’s run-making was cautious but effective. This; because of his assessment of the conditions early in the innings. “Definitely the wicket was on the slower side and I particularly concentrated on my shot selection today. I assessed the conditions early and knew it would be better off to score runs with the new ball and would get difficult to score when the ball got older. My plan was to play closer to the body, dig in there and play as long as possible.” Spin was introduced as early as in the ninth over not until the openers; Vijay in particular, was treated to the short stuff, which he left with ease. Vijay said, he expected this tactic from the New Zealand pacers early on in the innings. “I was well prepared for the short balls. I felt the New Zealand bowlers were using the conditions and trying to hit the deck hard and get the reverse going early. It boils down to clear decision making and correct shot selection. If you are going to pull or leave, you have to be clear in your head before the ball is delivered. You cannot be in between before you are facing it. I was trying to stick to my strengths. I wanted to hit the pull shot effectively and try to make the bowler bowl as much as he could and tire him out.” At one time, KL Rahul was going strong from one end - timing the ball well and with ease scoring at a brisk pace. But once he was dismissed, it was left to Vijay and Pujara to do a bit of repair work. “Pujara and myself hung in there and played that crucial session well. Pujara is a quality player and as soon as he came, the idea was to string together a 10-15 runs partnership so that we could get used to the pitch and understand it better. The wicket just got slower and we had to adjust our shot selection again. We couldn’t play our attacking game and had to pick the right balls to put it off. It came off and we rotated the strike well. It was good to share some nice moments with him in the middle.” Though India couldn’t capitalise on the Vijay-Pujara partnership, Vijay was confident of a better show on day two. “We should have cashed in after tea but soft dismissals cost us. The wickets at the crucial junctures made the difference. The wicket is getting slower and it is very difficult to score runs. I feel R Ashwin batted brilliantly for his 40 and along with Rohit Sharma put up a good partnership. If they could have continued from there, it would have been great. We have to come out tomorrow and be disciplined on day two. We will be in a better position on day two.”