Ind-NZ: Black Caps end day with 9 wickets, India with 291 runs

India ended the day with 291 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.

What looked to be a promising day for the batsmen, turned out to be a mini parade for the hosts, owing to their poor shot selection.

Earlier, in a track conducive to spin, Pujara (62) and Vijay played with soft hands to keep the Kiwi bowlers at bay in the first session, reaching their respective half-centuries post lunch.

It all changed soon after Pujara's dismissal.

Santner, who had earlier accounted for KL Rahul's (32) wicket, chipped in with one more, forcing Pujara to play at a ball aimed at his pads, resulting in an easy caught and bowled.

The Saurashtra batsman, who had a wonderful run of form in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy, departed for a well-made 62.

Virat Kohli (9) walked in soon after to a rousing reception from the faithfuls but two boundaries later, the Indian batsman found his way back to the dressing room, failing to connect a short ball from Neil Wagner, setting up a simple catch for Sodhi at deep fine leg.

Sodhi followed up with the prize scalp of Murali Vijay (65), ending his vigil at the crease.

While New Zealand evened honours with the home side at the conclusion of the second session with three quick wickets, they dived ahead of the hosts with another five in the last session.

Ajinkya Rahane (18) was the first man to be dismissed post tea as he tried to fend a ball that was pitched way ahead of the stumps, ending up scooping the cherry for a simple catch for the close-in fielder..

Though Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin stitched together a 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket to arrest the visitor's momentum, the former's habit of playing casual strokes at the crease brought his downfall.

Rohit was well set for a big score and was batting at 35 runs when he decided to hit Santner out of the park, resulting in Ish Sodhi cupping the cherry at the edge of the 30-yard circle.

Wriddhiman Saha (0), who recently was at the thick of action with a well compiled century in the Caribbean was undone by a Trent Boult delivery.

Boult, who remained barren for most part of the day, returned with an impressive figure of three wickets and was the wrecker-in-chief in the final session of the day.

He accounted for Ravichandran Ashwin (40), who played some crisp drives and Mohammed Shami (0).

Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Umesh Yadav (8) are at the crease and will resume batting when play begins tomorrow,Friday.

(Writing by Sudipto Maity)

Image: bcci.tv