Ind vs NZ: Ashwin takes charge, as India finish Day 4 strongly

Kanpur: India are on the brink of taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series against New Zealand, at the Green Park, in Kanpur, after they set the Kiwis a target of 434, and went on to take four wickets after tea, on Sunday.

The duo of Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who had steered the second Indian innings into stumps at Day 3, on Saturday, departed quickly in the first session of Day 4. Captian Virat Kohli was also dismissed pretty cheaply for just 18 runs, after he played a reckless slog sweep off Mark Craig’s bowling. Ish Sodhi took a comfortable catch in the deep.

However, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja did well to anchor the innings, and take India’s lead past the 400-run mark. Both Sharma and Jadeja managed to notch up their respective fifties, before Kohli declared the innings. No team has ever scored more than 387 runs in the fourth innings of a Test match, in India.

The hosts had a flying start in the fourth innings, as ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed two quick wickets – Martin Guptill and Tom Latham. The 30-year-old also picked up the all-important wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. He could have had a few more wickets, had a couple of catches not been dropped, and a couple of decisions gone India’s way.

Umesh Yadav, who had dropped lobbed Ross Taylor shot in the deep, made up for his mistake however, as he hit the stumps directly from long range to run the New Zealand batsman out. Although Taylor was well within the crease by the time Yadav hit the stumps, the Kiwi batter failed to ground his bat, resulting in the fall of his wicket.

Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner managed keep the Indian bowlers at bay in the last 16 overs of the day. India will be content with the way things went on Day 4 of the first Test, as they are now in a commanding position to win the match.

Scorecard

India: 318 all out (Vijay 65, Pujara 62; Boult 3-67, Santner 3-94)

New Zealand: 262 all out (Williamson 65, Latham 58; Jadeja 5-73, Ashwin 4-93)

India: 377/5 dec. (Vijay 76, Pujara 78; Santner 2-79, Sodhi 2-99)

New Zealand: 93/5 (Williamson 25, Ronchi 38 no; Ashwin 3-68)

New Zealand require 341 runs to win.

India need 6 wickets to win.

NZ: 93/4 from 37 overs

STUMPS! Ashwin wraps up play on Day 4 with a maiden over. India have done well to pick up four New Zealand wickets. However, Kohli's men will feel that they should have seen the back of more NZ batsmen, due to a couple of dropped catches and controversial decisions. Both Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner have up a good fight against the Indian spinners after Taylor's wicket. The duo have notched up a 37 run partnership.

NZ: 55/4 from 21.2 overs

WICKET! Second wicket in quick succession. The struggling Ross Taylor finally gets out after failing to ground his bat in time, while taking a quick run. Brilliant throw by Umesh Yadav to hit the stumps directly from the deep.

NZ: 43/3 from 18 overs

WICKET! Ashwin gets his 200th wicket in Test cricket. And what a big wicket that was. Kane Williamson! The ball took a wicked turn, and caught Williamson (25) plumb in front of the middle stump. Luke Ronchi comes in to bat

NZ: 15/2 from 10 overs

Ross Taylor is lucky to be still out there. The first ball of the over hit him on the pads in front of the wicket. Umpire Richard Kettleborough says not out. The ball is keeping low.

NZ: 3/2 from 3.5 overs

Tom Latham out! First ball to the left-hander and Ashwin has his man.

NZ: 2/1 from 3.1 overs

Ashiwn picks his first wicket of the innings. Guptill went for a big slop-sweep, thick inside edge popped straight to Vijay.

India: 350/5 from 104 overs

Fifty for Ravindra Jadeja! And with that India skipper Virat Kohli signals his team's decleration of the innings. New Zealand now need 434 runs to win the match.

India: 350/5 from 104 overs

SIX! Jadeja brings up the 400-run lead for India in style, as he lofts Sodhi over long-on, and past the ropes. No team has ever scored more than 387 runs in the 4th innings, in India.

India: 326/5 from 98 overs

Rohit Sharma brings up his half century with a comfortable single. He miscued his pull shot a little bit, but fortunately there was no fielder at short midwicket.

India: 277/5 from 88.5 overs

WICKET! Santner picks up his second wicket of the innings. Rahane (40), who attempted to play a defensive shot, ended up edging  the ball to Ross Taylor at first slip. The ball took a wicked turn after it pitched. Lots of purchase for the spinners.

India: 252/4 from 81 overs

LUNCH! India have take a 308 run lead, on the fourth day at the Green Park, in Kanpur. No visiting team has ever chased down 300 runs in the fourth innings in India. Hence, it will be interesting to see, when India captain Virat Kohli decides declare the innings.

India: 244/3 from 76 overs

India are struggling, with two new batsmen at the crease -- Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. However, both the batsmen are picking off the loose deliveries, and keeping the scoreboard ticking.

India: 214/3

WICKET! Sodhi picks up the important wicket of Pujara. The ball takes a huge turn, as Sodhi lands it in the rough, just outside the leg stump-line. After a sharp turn, the ball catches the outside edge of his bat, and goes straight to Ross Taylor at first slip.

India: 214/3

WICKET! Kohli gone! Craig picks up the big wicket. Seems like a lapse in concentration from Kohli, as he went for the big sweep against the NZ bowler. However, the ball caught the upper edge of the bat, as Sodhi took a comfortable catch at midwicket. The India captain becomes Craig's 50th Test cricket victim.

India: 209/2 from 65 overs

DRINKS! Vijay's wicket is a bit of a blow for India, but the hosts seem to have settled well into the match. Both Kohli and Pujara are taking a cautious approach to the game, but have kept the scoring rate up, by punishing the bad deliveries.

India: 200/2 from 56 overs

Virat Kohli brings up the 200-run mark for India with a boundary. However, Santner will be happy with that, as Kohli, who tried to drive it through the covers edged it through gully, for a four.

India: 185/2 from 56 overs

WICKET! Santner strikes early, as he gets the important wicket of Murali Vijay (76). Attempting to play a defensive shot, Vijay gets deceived by the turn on the ball, which hits his pad first, and then goes on to his bat. Easy decision for the umpire.

India: 185/1 from 56 overs

Vijay and Pujara have picked up right where they left off yesterday, as they continue to pick easy runs off the NZ bowlers. Managed to score eight runs off Sodhi's over.

Preview:

India have firmly taken control of the first of three Tests against New Zealand, at the Green Park in Kanpur, on Saturday.

While the Kiwis seemed to have the edge after Day 1 and Day 2, three good sessions by India on the third day have swung the match India’s way. Day 3 was all about the hosts, as the completely outplayed New Zealand, right from the word go.

Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin did all the damage early on for India, as the hosts bowled the Kiwis out for just 262, despite the fact that the visitors seemed to be cruising at 152 for 1, after the end of Day 2. However, The Indian spin-twins grabbed nine wickets between themselves, as they helped their side retain a 56-run lead.

The Indian batsmen also showed that they were up to the task after this great bowling performance. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul got the hosts’ second innings off to a good start, before a lapse in concentration resulted in the latter’s dismissal.

Much like the first innings though, Cheteshwar Pujara put up an unbeaten 107-run partnership with Vijay, to give India a 215-run lead over New Zealand in the second innings. Spinner Ish Sodhi was the only wicket taker for the Kiwis.

Scorecard

India: 318 all out (Vijay 65, Pujara 62; Boult 3-67, Santner 3-94)

New Zealand: 262 all out (Williamson 65, Latham 58; Jadeja 5-73, Ashwin 4-93)

India: 159/1 (Vijay 65 no, Pujara 50 no; Sodhi 1-29)

India lead by 215 runs.