A spectacular seven-wicket haul by Mitchell Santner helped New Zealand dismiss India for 156 before the tourists reached 198 for five at stumps on day two of the second test in Pune on Friday to tighten their grip on the three-match series.
Tom Blundell was unbeaten on 30 and Glenn Phillips on nine as the Black Caps, who won the series opener by eight wickets, extended their lead to 301 runs at the close after scoring 259 in the first innings.
Washington Sundar got rid of Devon Conway for 17, Rachin Ravindra for nine and Daryl Mitchell for 18 while Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Will Young for 23, but the runs came quickly and too easily for New Zealand.
New captain Tom Latham returned to form with a timely 86 but became Washington’s fourth victim late in the afternoon after he put the tourists in a strong position to secure their maiden series victory in India.
India are seeking a 19th straight home series victory since a 2-1 defeat by England in 2012, but will need a battling effort to draw level with New Zealand ahead of the finale in Mumbai early next month.
Santner had earlier posted career-best figures of seven for 53 while Phillips bagged two for 26 as the spinners continued to sparkle at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, where Washington took seven for 59 on the first day.
The hosts resumed on 16 for one after losing captain Rohit Sharma for a nine-ball duck on Thursday evening, and Shubman Gill was fortunate to survive a loud appeal for lbw on the third ball of the morning from Santner when he was on 10.
Santner trapped Gill plumb in front for 30 and the left-armer struck again by bowling Virat Kohli for one with an inviting full toss that the batsman missed. Mitchell pulled off a sharp catch at slip as Phillips dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for 30 and the tourists could have had another had the fielder held on to a tough chance when Santner forced an edge off Sarfaraz Khan’s blade.
Rishabh Pant was castled for 18 by Phillips after a loose shot and Santner had Sarfaraz caught for 11 to leave India on the ropes at 95 for six, with both their batting heroes from the opening game back in the dugout.
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Santner trapped Ashwin lbw for four and removed Ravindra Jadeja in similar fashion after the batsman made a defiant 38, before getting one to go through Akash Deep’s defence.
He then snared Jasprit Bumrah for a duck to ensure New Zealand would begin their second innings with a lead of 103, and India staring down the barrel towards a first home series defeat for 12 years.
