Christchurch: India were reduced to 90 for six in their second innings after dismissing New Zealand for 235 on day two of the second Test match at the Hagley Oval here on Sunday.
Indian top-order once again fell prey to poor shot selection against the likes of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme.
At stumps, Rishabh Pant (1) and Hanuma Vihari (5) were at the crease with India leading by 97 runs with four wickets in hand.
With a lead of just 7 runs over the Black Caps, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara all departed in the final session after India came out to bat in their second innings.
India even tried out nightwatchman Umesh Yadav when 8 overs were remaining in the day’s play but that experiment proved useless for them as he got out scoring just 1 run from 12 balls.
Boult caused the maximum damage with 3 wickets for 12 runs from just 9 overs while Tim Southee (1 for 20), Colin de Grandhomme (1 for 3) and Neil Wagner (1 for 18) did the rest.
The batsmen undid all the hard work done by the bowlers who had managed to bundle out New Zealand out for 235 by the second session on Day 2, to give India a first innings lead of 7 runs.
Earlier, resuming at 63 for no loss, New Zealand lost 5 wickets before lunch and the remaining 5 in the second session.
Tom Latham (52) and Kyle Jamieson (49) were the top-scorers as New Zealand ended their first innings seven runs short of India’s first innings total of 242.
India pacers led India’s fightback on the second day with the trio of Mohammed Shami (4/81), Jasprit Bumrah (3/62) and Umesh Yadav (1/46) sharing eight wickets.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/22) claimed two wickets and also took a stunning one-handed airborne catch at deep mid-wicket.
India would have gained an even bigger lead had it not been for the 51-run 9th-wicket partnership between Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner. The duo took Indian bowlers to the cleaners and hit them all around the park.
Jamieson scored his highest Test score of 49 while Wagner made 21 as they took New Zealand from 177 for 8 to 228 before the latter got out, courtesy a superb outfield catch from Jadeja off Shami’s bowling.
Jamieson was the last man out, falling just short of a maiden half-century. (UNI)
