New Zealand, aided by a career-best seven-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and a half-century by skipper Tom Latham took a sizeable 301-run lead against an embattled India on day two of the second Test in Pune on Friday.
Santner (7/53 in 19.3 overs) demolished India for 156 as New Zealand took a first-innings lead of 103 runs after the visitors had notched up 259 on the opening day.
Latham then scored a fine 86 in the second innings and shared fruitful partnerships with Will Young (23) and Tom Blundell (30 batting) to guide New Zealand to 198 for 5 in 53 overs for an overall lead of 301 runs.
Earlier, India’s poor batsmanship saw the team slump to 107 for 7 at lunch. They started the day on a positive note with Shubman Gill (30) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (30) adding 49 for the second wicket before six wickets fell for the addition of 53 runs as the hosts were left struggling at lunch.
Santner then returned in the post-lunch session to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah cheaply.
Tom Latham stroked his way to an unbeaten 37 with six boundaries with Rachin Ravindra (7 not out) at the other end, as New Zealand batters largely dominated the Indian bowlers to reach 85 for two at the tea break.
New Zealand are looking at a historic maiden Test series win in India for the first time in 68 years, having first come here in 1955-56.
None of the New Zealand batters faced any apparent trouble batting on the pitch shortly after the star-studded Indian batting line-up cut a sorry figure for the second time in this series as they made elementary mistakes.
It was only in the last Test in Bengaluru that their all-time lowest score at home of 46 all-out was behind their first loss to the Kiwis in 36 years in their own backyard.
On Friday afternoon, India folded a mere 156 in 45.3 overs as spunky New Zealand continued to perform way better compared to the hosts on their own soil, earning a lead of 103 runs in the first essay.
With their backs firmly pressed against the wall and 152 runs in deficit, Ravindra Jadeja took upon himself to reduce the margin but could not make a big dent.
Jadeja hit Santner for a couple of fours and cleared the ropes twice against Ajaz Patel but eventually fell for 38 off 46 balls with three fours and two sixes.
Washington Sundar was unbeaten on 18 when India’s innings ended as the tail stood no chance after harakiri from the specialist batters.
Earlier in the day, India’s frailties against spin came to the fore again as a shocking collapse saw the hosts slip to 107/7 at lunch, trailing by another 152 runs in the first innings.
If it was trial by pace and seam in the Bengaluru Test, it was regulation spin on a low-bounce surface that exposed the Indian batters in Friday’s morning session.
On a low and turning wicket, Indian batters lacked in application and sound judgement as elementary mistakes saw the team staring at an enormous task of reducing the deficit and stay in the contest.
Resuming at 16/1, India lost six wickets for a mere 91 runs in the first session.
Sarfaraz Khan (11), whose recent outings include 222 not out in Irani Cup and 150 in the last innings at Bengaluru, only had himself to blame after recklessly hitting one straight to mid-off for William O’Rourke to grab an easy catch, off Santner.
Santner, who triggered the collapse by trapping Shubman Gill (30) for the first wicket of the day, kept chipping away as he pinned R Ashwin (4) leg-before off the one that kept low shortly before the break.
