Summary:
Kanpur, Nov 28 (PTI) Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and his temporary deputy Cheteshwar Pujara"s saga of failures continued as India were put on the mat by New Zealand bowlers, primarily Tim Southee, reducing the hosts to 84 for five at lunch on the fourth day of the opening Test here on Sunday.
First innings centurion Shreyas Iyer (18 not out off 51 balls) and the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin (20 not out off 35 balls) were trying to stem the rot as India"s overall lead extended to 133.
They have so far added 33 runs for the sixth wicket.
While the pitch is still not an unplayable one, India"s spinners might be able to defend anything in the range of 180 as it is expected that a lot of balls will keep low even if there won"t be much turn on offer.
However on the fourth morning, Southee, a practitioner of conventional swing bowling, took a master-class on how to bowl on an unresponsive Indian track classically setting up batters.
But before Southee got into the act, Kyle Jamieson (8-3-21-2) targeted Cheteshwar Pujara"s (22 off 33 balls) ribcage, getting one to rear up on this dead track and it brushed India no 3"s gloves into the hands of keeper Tom Blundell.