New Zealand bowl out India

The match could not be re-started in the absence of a super-sopper.

Though run scoring was not easy, India started well only to lose track in the post-lunch period. Skipper Kane Williamson has joined Tom Latham in the middle, with 44 runs on the board. Rahul swept the left-arm spinner for a six but the Kiwi bowler exacted his revenge by having the young Indian batsmen caught behind in the next over.

“First things first, we need to get this last wicket early, bat well and build partnerships”, he said. You don’t allow Ashwin or Jadeja to bowl 12 or 15 balls at one person.

The key battle on Day 2 looks to be that of Kane Williamson, who is likely to bat at four for the Black-caps, against the Indian spin leader Ravichandran Ashwin.

While skill alone would have given Latham and Williamson a good score, slices of fortune ensured they were still around to try and make great scores.

With strike bowlers not making any impact, Kohli asked part-timer Murali Vijay to bowl his off-breaks. He nearly got Latham on a full toss, which the batsman missed.

Unlike Kohli, Vijay hadn’t taken on Wagner’s short balls, and through both his spells – one with the new ball and another, spanning seven overs, in the afternoon session – he had swayed out of the way, dropped his wrists, and simply watched balls go through to the keeper.

Latham was fortunate to still be batting, after his sweep of Ravindra Jadeja (0-47) while on 47 was caught at short leg.

The decision was referred to the third umpire who ruled in the batsman’s favour after replays suggested the ball had touched the chin strap of Rahul’s helmet. In the next over Latham completed his fifty. Williamson also completed his 23rd Test half-century with a single off Jadeja.

India were certainly made to work hard for their runs though, with the New Zealand attack led by Tim Southee and Trent Boult regularly taking wickets and bowling consistent lines and lengths all day long.

Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav added 27 to India’s overnight total before Neil Wagner struck in the seventh over of the morning to bring their innings to a close at 318.

In his last 12 Test innings, Guptill had managed to go past the 50-run mark only once and in the first innings for the 1st Test against India, Guptill failed once again.

Kohli took off Umesh Yadav after just one over but persisted with Mohammed Shami from one end.

Similar to Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill, despite being world-class limited-over player, continues to be an unfulfilled potential in Tests. Out of the 152 runs scored, 60 came in boundaries and 10 belonged to sundries.

The left-handed Latham was on 56 with Williamson on 65, with New Zealand trailing the hosts by 166 runs in the first innings on day two.