India 202 (Rohit Sharma 72, Ravindra Jadeja 30*, Neil Wagner 4-64) and 1-87 (Shikhar Dhawan 49*, Cheteshwar Pujara 22*, Tim Southee 1-18) trails New Zealand 503 and 105 (Ross Taylor 41, Southee 14, Ishant Sharma 3-28) by 320 runs with nine wickets in hand.
The Indian bowlers put their side back in the game after their dismal batting in the first innings as the Black Caps were dismissed cheaply in their 2nd one.
The hosts amassed 503 runs in their first innings but surrendered for 105 mere runs after 41.2 overs in the second. The visitors were bowled out for 202 in the first and reached 87 for the loss of one wicket in the second innings.
The third day’s game finished on Saturday, February 8, 20145, at Eden Park, Auckland.
Earlier, India commenced their first innings at 4-130 in 39 overs whereas Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahqane were batting at 67 and 23. The home bowlers struck early and removed the pair after the addition of eight runs to the overnight score. Ravindra Jadeja was the only other batsman who scored 30 runs and the innings of the entire touring team was rolled back for 202 in 60 overs.
Neil Wagner was the chief wicket taker with four whereas Trent Boult and Tim Southee held three each.
The Kiwis gained a mammoth first innings lead of 301 runs but Brendon McCullum did not enforce the follow on and preferred to bat for the second time. The decision hit back when the rival bowlers penetrated through the top order batting of the hosts who were reeling at 5-25. Ross Taylor tried to consolidate the innings but the wickets kept on sliding at the other end continuously. He was the top scorer with 41 as the entire New Zealand team was sent back to the pavilion for 105 runs.
Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami were the supreme bowlers with three wickets each, Zaheer Khan got two whereas Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with one wicket.
India required 407 runs to win the match and lost their first wicket at 36 when Murali Vijay was caught behind by BJ Watling off Tim Southee for 13. Cheteshwar Pujara joined in with Shikhar Dhawan and the duo survived some anxious moments. They crawled to 87 in 25 overs at stumps on day three whereas Dhawan was unbeaten at 49 and Pujara was fighting hard with 22.
New Zealand still has an upper hand in the encounter since India faces an uphill task of scoring another 320 runs to clinch the game on a bouncy track.
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