The range of viable investors in the Hundred teams is "way broader and bigger" than anticipated ahead of Friday's first-round deadline for bids. That is according to the ECB's senior leadership team, who defended the Hundred's projected valuations of overseas broadcast rights on Wednesday by insisting: "We are confident in our product".

The ECB sent investment prospectuses to around 100 interested parties last month, who were set a deadline of October 18 to register their initial interest in buying a stake in one of the eight Hundred teams. The teams are currently owned by the ECB but will become franchises run as joint-ventures with host counties (or the MCC) once the sale process is complete.

One prospective investor, who has since withdrawn from the sales process, told ESPNcricinfo that those figures "make no sense" and had not been fully explained. "It seems like they first thought of a valuation then made up the numbers to justify it - things like the sudden and exponential growth in broadcast revenue from India and North America," they said.

Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, the ECB's chief executive and chair respectively, are in Multan this week during England's second Test against Pakistan, ahead of the first-round deadline. They said the board has fielded interest from a "full gamut" of potential investors and defended the projected increase in revenue from Indian broadcast rights.

"We are not making an assumption that India's men's players will be released, because that has not been what has happened," Gould said. "We are confident in our product, in terms of the window we occupy and the players we've got available. There are loads of T20 and short-format franchise competitions out there at the moment, and I don't think they are all going to last, in truth."

Gould said that "about 100 or so" interested parties had requested access to the ECB's "data room", including "a lot of Indian interest" with the majority of owners of IPL and WPL franchises understood to be involved in the process. He said there has also been interest "from America, from other sports and investment houses".

He said: "We're getting towards the end of stage one this week at the moment, they can express an interest in all eight clubs. We'll have a better indication over the next week or two. Thereafter, we'll spend a month or so going through those. At the end of that process, they will be able to go and meet the county clubs and see where their relationships work best.

"During that period they can have an interest in up to four teams. When we get to the crunch time, which is the next phase, they can only put their name in for two teams, and they can only win one. Clearly, we want to maximise the value, because the value the ECB holds is on behalf of the game."

Gould said there were "a few tyre-kickers" among the parties to initially register their interest, but Thompson insisted that the ECB had outstripped expectations overall. "Raine originally said they thought there'd be three to four bidders per team," he said. "The investment base is way broader and bigger than they expected."

"What we don't want is to just feel bounced into selling all of them and thinking, 'We could have got a lot more if we'd held back because that particular team wasn't ready to go,'" he said. "The worst thing we could do would be to undersell the game and look back thinking, 'We let some of these franchises go at prices that weren't full market value.'"

Innings India 46 (Pant 20, Henry 5-15, O'Rourke 4-22) vs New Zealand

New Zealand carried the wicket-taking momentum into the second session, taking the four remaining wickets out for an addition of 12 runs to consign India to their third-lowest Test score of all time and their lowest at home. In all Test cricket, this 46 was the fourth-lowest first-innings score after a side had chosen to bat first.

Henry wasn't done yet, though. He put in a full-speed sprint to his left from fine leg to give Will O'Rourke his fourth wicket, Jasprit Bumrah not fancying hanging around after one kicked at him and hit him. Henry had substitute Michael Bracewell to thank for completing his five-for and 100 Test wickets as the tall substitute fielder dived to his left at gully to give him Kuldeep's wicket.

Lunch - NZ finally get some cricket, and make it count

It was well worth the wait. On their seventh day of Test cricket in India this year, New Zealand finally got on the field on day two in Bengaluru and lost a good toss. Once they were denied their wish to bat first under overcast skies and on a pitch that has remained covered all week, New Zealand's seam bowlers were all over India with deadly accurate bowling, reducing India to 34 for 6 in a stop-start first session.

It was apparent as early as the first overs that the ball was moving more than either of the sides expected. New Zealand started off with just two slips but reinforced the cordon. India were now reacting instinctively and not through mental preparation in the lead-up. Their instinct was to counterattack. Jaiswal played the first loose drive to just the 12th ball he faced after Tim Southee had been challenging him. Rohit Sharma survived an extremely close lbw shout off Henry on umpire's call but soon tried to charge Southee and loft him back over his head. The wobble-seam ball jagged back in to take the top of leg.

With Shubman Gill missing because of a stiff neck, Virat Kohli moved up to No. 3 for the first time since 2016. While it was brave of Kohli to move up, the batter perhaps best suited to seaming conditions is the current No. 6, KL Rahul, who is the only Asian opener with centuries in Australia, England and South Africa.

Another batting-order surprise followed as Sarfaraz Khan walked in at No. 4, a slot he doesn't even take in domestic cricket. It took him just three balls to attempt an aerial drive on the up, shanking it for a sensational catch by Devon Conway at mid-off, diving to his right and taking it well behind his body. A just reward for Henry, who drew an average seam movement of 1.3 degrees in the first session.

Rain brought a brief halt at 13 for 3 in 12.4 overs without a single boundary. India were in control of just 62% of the deliveries faced at this point. The bowling was ruthless: about half of them in the good length, only a few going fuller without becoming half-volleys.

In theory, the break should be good news for the bowling side as their bowlers can be ready for more spells but here they ran out of some of the awesome luck they had been enjoying. The first ball after the break was a half-volley, bringing India their first boundary. Soon Tom Blundell dropped a sitter from Rishabh Pant, and then the batters either played or missed or the edges flew wide of the fielders. The bowling also lost a bit of the relentlessness.

Eventually the fourth wicket came not off testing deliveries, but a middled cut shot by Jaiswal, who fell for 13 off 63, out of which he was in control of just 42. The luck had turned: Rahul nicked one down the leg side six minutes before lunch for a duck, and Ravindra Jadeja followed with an extravagant flick that produced a leading edge to what proved to be the last ball of the session.

Pant, though, went in unbeaten on 15 off 41 despite playing 18 false shots.

The likelihood is that the vacancy will be at the top of the order but there may also be a spot for another reserve batter in the era of concussion substitutes. Here's a look at the runners and riders.

"It's not like it's going to be the first time I've ever played for Australia A before a Test series," he said last week. "There's obviously always a bit of attention around those games. Pressure wise, I'm not going to be trying to put the same pressure on myself as I had before. It will just be a great opportunity."

He is the 19-year-old new kid on the block and generating plenty of excitement. Konstas has been compared to Ricky Ponting and joined him as a teenager to make twin hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. Bailey was careful to temper expectations and it would be a very rapid rise - and against the grain for Australian men's cricket - if he was catapulted into the Test squad in a few weeks.

"He's in the mix as are plenty of others," Bailey said. "I certainly don't want to single him out. Think the consistency of Cam Bancroft over a number of years, the consistency of Marcus Harris over a number of years, they've both had a look at Test cricket as well, so don't think there's a need at this stage to put any undue pressure or expectation on Sam."

But the opportunity is there for him to make the selectors think hard. He will face Scott Boland at the MCG from Sunday before what will likely be a strong India A side. Another couple hundreds against those attacks and the momentum could be unstoppable.

Renshaw was the reserve batter against West Indies and New Zealand earlier this year but has been overlooked for the Australia A squad. He made 6 and 15 in the opening round of Sheffield Shield against Western Australia. However, Bailey said that doesn't mean the selectors have moved on from him, while also referencing a couple of other experienced domestic players who have had a taste of Test cricket.

"We still really like Matt's ability to play," Bailey said. "As far as Australia A selection goes, part of the process around that is trying to identify opportunities that may come around in the short term but also making sure we do keep an eye on developing opportunities for those players who may become important in different roles in the future as well. Whilst there's an Australia A squad there, I think Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, as three examples, are guys who we'll continue to watch really closely in Shield cricket."

The other aspect is that even after the initial Test squad is named there will be three more rounds of Shield before the BBL for players to impress should back-up be needed during the series.

"I'm definitely confident in my game at the moment and if I were to get an opportunity I think I would be ready," he said on Thursday. "But all I can do is to continue to focus on what I can control and that's preparing well for South Australia and hopefully winning games for my state."

Webster, the Tasmania allrounder, has numbers that speak for themselves over the last two seasons. With the bat he has averaged 53.12 in the Sheffield Shield - including an opening-round hundred last week - while has taken 66 wickets with a combination of brisk medium pace and offspin. Add in bucket hands at slip and he's an ultimate allrounder. The Australia A series is a chance for him to do it a level up and success there will keep him in the frame should there be a need for another allrounder down the track. His versatility could also put him in consideration for the Sri Lanka tour early next year.

Alongside Webster, Hardie is the other emerging allrounder and had an excellent limited-overs tour of England, especially with the ball whereas overall his batting is his primary suit. Bailey told cricket.com.au that there had been consideration to trying to get Hardie one of the Australia A matches but with Green's injury it was felt he would be needed through the ODI and T20I matches against Pakistan. There may be an opportunity for him to bat slightly higher in the order in the ODIs. He is due to return to Shield action at the weekend where he will be expected to slot in as part Western Australia's top order. Hardie hasn't scored a Shield century since his unbeaten 174 in 2021-22 final although did make one for Australia A in New Zealand a few weeks after that. In the last two seasons for WA he has averaged 31.45 so he may need a big season to push his case.

And what about the bowlers?

There is probably less mystery about who will be the back-up to the big three. It appears unlikely that Lance Morris will be in consideration amid his managed return from back problems (and a more recent thigh niggle) which leaves Boland and Michael Neser leading the way. Sean Abbott was part of the squad when India last toured in 2020-21 and, along with Neser, is someone who would bring some extra batting depth.