Wellington: The Indian team seems to be riding on a wave of good luck. MS Dhoni had his share of luck not just by winning a great toss, but also having his premium pacer strike gold. Bundling out the hosts for a paltry 192, the Indians wrapped up their first innings scoring 438 and piling up a lead of 246 runs. they now have the hosts on the backfoot, managing just 24 for the loss of one wicket at stumps on Day 2. They trail India by 222 runs, with nine wickets remaining.
After Ishant Sharma inflicted fatal damage to the New Zealand batting order, the Indian first innings suffered two blows on Day 1, with Pujara and Murali Vijay walking back without great contributions. Day 2 began with Dhawan in his poetic form and Ishant returning to torment the Kiwis with his willow, this time. However, the menace didn’t last for too long, much to the relief of the Kiwis, but not without scoring 26 valuable runs. Kohli (38) and Rohit Sharma (0) departed quickly as they fell to Wagner and Neesham respectively.
After Dhawan missed his century by a whisker, falling on 98 after being done in by Southee, Ajinkya Rahane was the next man to walk in and he stitched a 120-run stand with MS Dhoni. While Rahane brought up his maiden century, scoring 118 of 158 balls, Dhoni scored 68 off 86 to take India’s lead past the 200 mark figure. Jadeja (26), Zaheer Khan (22) and Mohammad Shami (0) couldn’t add up to much. India closed their innings at 438, giving the hosts a mighty challenge.
New Zealand’s second innings began on a shaky note, with opener Fulton already back to the pavillion after contributing 1 to what looks like a difficult cause. With 222 rubs behind, it does look like a mammoth task for the hosts to pull this one into safe waters. India meanwhile, are sniffing their maiden victory around the corner.