Tea India 45 for 3 (Vijay 22*, Rohit 16*, Boult 2-13) trail New Zealand 503 (McCullum 224, Williamson 113, Anderson 77, Ishant 6-134) by 458 runs
| |||
New Zealand opening bowlers complemented Brendon McCullum's second double-century by nipping out three batsmen in a testing first spell to put India under pressure at Eden Park.
Trent Boult overstepped in the first ball of the innings but compensated by striking twice in the opening over. Since that 187 on debut, Shikhar Dhawan scored only 132 runs in the following six innings. His fortunes plummeted further in Auckland, where he fell for a three-ball duck. Aiming to hit Boult through midwicket, Dhawan was squared up by the seam movement and was caught at gully.
Boult then made the big breakthrough with the last ball of the over, the extra delivery drawing Cheteshwar Pujara into an uncharacteristically loose drive. The batsman could only edge it to the wicketkeeper. India were 3 for 2.
Tim Southee compounded India's problems by producing the ball of the match so far. Virat Kohli, who had opened his account with a straight drive off Boult, got a nasty bouncer that flicked his thumb, hit the helmet and then lobbed to second slip. The batsman appeared flummoxed at the decision, but hot-spot and the snickometer confirmed the umpire's decision. New Zealand needed a good ball to get Kohli and Southee had delivered the snorter.
M Vijay and Rohit Sharma survived probing spells from New Zealand's opening bowlers to take India to 45 for 3 by the end of the session, still trailing by 458.
Before India's woes with the bat, McCullum had narrowly missed improving his best Test score, but his second double-century formed the bedrock of New Zealand's strong first-innings total after being put into bat. McCullum was the last man dismissed, falling to a brilliant outfield catch by Ravindra Jadeja. Ishant Sharmamanaged to pick up a five-wicket haul after 19 Tests, but was expensive as New Zealand racked up 174 runs in 31.4 overs on the second day.
McCullum was measured instead of cavalier during a century stand with Corey Anderson, scoring only 53 out of 133, but he stepped it up after the partnership was broken. On 192, McCullum skipped down the pitch to the third delivery of the last over of the session, from Jadeja, and cleared the fielder at long-on. He then swished the last delivery through square leg to end the session on 202.
McCullum had begun the day seven short of his 150 and reached the milestone with a well-timed straight boundary in the third over of the morning. His next boundary - a whiplash cut through point off Ishant - came eight overs later. The total though had been boosted by a series of boundaries by Anderson.
Had India watched highlights from the first day, they would have noted how the New Zealand batsmen had feasted on short deliveries. The approach seemed to have changed on the second day, when Zaheer Khan and Ishant started with fuller deliveries, drawing thick outside edges in the first few overs. The short ball, however, made a reappearance after only five overs and was duly dismissed with a powerful pull from Anderson. The force of the shot didn't seem to make an impression on Ishant, who repeated a bouncer in the same over only to be dismissed through square leg again.
Anderson had been circumspect at the start his innings yesterday, but the power of the batsman who owns the record for the fastest ODI century was in full show as a mis-timed drive off Ishant rocketed to the long-on boundary. Anderson racked up eight boundaries in the 31 balls he faced on the second morning. The second of those - a dab through gully - brought up his second 50-plus score in Tests; the third brought up New Zealand's second consecutive century stand.
Against benign bowling, Anderson looked set for his second Test hundred but his innings was cut short by a poor decision from umpire Steve Davis. Anderson was struck above the knee-roll by an Ishant delivery from round the wicket and replays indicated the ball would have missed the stumps on both line and height. The innings, and the partnership with McCullum, however, meant that New Zealand continued scoring at frenetic pace.
Bowling an extended spell, Ishant picked up his fourth wicket when he had BJ Watling caught at third slip. He employed the short-ball plan again in the search for the fifth wicket only to be hooked for a couple of sixes by Tim Southee in the last over of his spell. The nine overs he bowled in the spell cost him 60 runs. He returned to complete his five-for with the wicket of Ish Sodhi.