New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner affected a stunning Indian collapse in the morning session on day two of the second test on Friday.
Santner picked 4-36 in 10 overs as India collapsed to 107-7 in 38 overs in its first innings at lunch, in reply to New Zealand’s 259 runs.
Off-spinner Glenn Phillips also took 2-26 as India lost six wickets for 91 runs prior to lunch.
At lunch, Ravindra Jadeja (11 not out) and Washington Sundar (2 not out) were the unbeaten batters, with India finding itself in a deep hole.
Starting from overnight 16-1, India made good progress in the first half of the session. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were aggressive and looked to play their shots. They put on 49 runs for the second wicket.
The duo looked to play with attacking intent, but were pushed back as Santner came on to bowl. With Ajaz Patel also bowling at the other end, momentum shifted in New Zealand’s favour and the batters looked under pressure.
Santner then provided the breakthrough — Gill was out lbw in the 22nd over. He scored 30 runs off 72 balls, including two fours and a six.
Virat Kohli arrived at the crease and looked circumspect against spin — then he was bowled off Santner, failing to pick a full toss drifting in, out for one run off nine balls.
Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 150 runs in the second innings at Bengaluru, raised hopes of a comeback as he started well. But he too got over aggressive, looking to chip Santner over mid-off and was caught for 11. Santner then also trapped Ravichandran Ashwin (4) lbw before lunch with the ball again staying low.
The black soil pitch showcased variable bounce and turn even early on the morning of the second day, suggesting that New Zealand’s current healthy lead of 152 runs puts it in the driver’s seat here.
India trails the three-match series 1-0 after New Zealand beat the home side by eight wickets in the first test. It was New Zealand’s first test win in India since 1988.