Earlier, resuming the fourth day at 159 for one, overnight batsmen Vijay and Pujara could manage to add only 26 runs to the score as Vijay was trapped lbw by spinner Mitchell Santner in the 57th over.
Advertisement
Vijay and Pujara batted for about 10 overs together before left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner broke the 133-stand between the duo by trapping the former plumb in front of the wicket.
New Zealand spinners Santner and Ish Sodhi claimed two wickets each as Mark Craig chipped in with one.
Ajinkya Rahane (21 not out) and Rohit Sharma (12 not out) were the batsmen at the interval. After scoring nine in the first innings, Kohli failed once again.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay once again notched up a hundred-run partnership as they took India to an nearly certain win in the first Test with a 433-run lead on the fourth day.
It was Ashwin’s 200th Test wicket in his 37th match to be second behind Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett, who raced to 200 wickets in 36 games.
Williamson, dropped at deep square leg on 16, went lbw to Ashwin, giving him his 200th test wicket.
That morning period was given over to a game of cat and mouse; India were seeking to press home their advantage with brisk runs to set up a declaration; New Zealand were trying to make life hard to prolong the innings.
New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen says partnerships will be crucial to his team’s survival on the fifth and final day of the first Test against India here Monday.
An unlucky Guptill got an inside edge onto his pads to be dismissed for a duck, with the ball lobbing into the hands of Murali Vijay at short leg.
After that there was no looking back for India as Jadeja ran through the visitor’s lower order, taking three wickets in an over to wrap up the innings.
India took the new ball immediately after 80 overs and asked Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami to start the post-lunch session.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday became the second fastest bowler to claim 200 Test wickets, achieving the milestone in his 37th match.
However, things took a turn for the worse, when only four overs later, some blatant negligence on Taylor’s part and an excellent piece of fielding by India fast bowler Umesh Yadav saw a weird dismissal at an unwarranted time, as far as New Zealand’s cause was concerned. Pujara was also back in the pavilion after Sodhi turned one across the right-hander from outside the leg-stump to have him caught at slip.
Advertisement
Luke Ronchi (38), who had warmed up for the series with a century in the Delhi practice game, went about his business fearlessly as he took the fight to the rival camp. An even 100 were added in just 111 balls, both men contributing exactly 50 runs each. However, the replays showed clearly that Taylor’s bat was dangling in the air, despite being beyond the crease.
