Kanpur, Sep 26 (IANS) India are three wickets away from clinching the first cricket Test after the visiting New Zealand team were reduced to 205 for seven in their second innings at lunch on the final day on Monday.
Chasing a daunting 434-run target, the Kiwis were 93 for four at stumps on Day Four and on Monday morning lost three more wickets. They still need 229 wickets to overhaul India's target.
At lunch, Mitchell Santner (57 not out) and Ish Sodhi (2 not out) were at the crease.
New Zealand started the day brightly with Santner and Luke Ronchi dominating the Indian bolwers with aggressive batting in the first hour. They stitched a 102-run partnership for the fifth wicket as they relied on positivity to fend off the Indian bowlers.
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Wicketkeeper-batsman Ronchi registered his second fifty in Test cricket as he completed a stroke-filled knock.
However, with his score at 80 and his team's total at 158/4, he lost his wicket, top-edging a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to Ravichandran Ashwin.
Later, seamer Mohammad Shami removed B.J. Watling (18) and Mark Craig (1) to demolish the Kiwi lower middle-order.
Brief scores: India: 318 and 377/5 declared vs New Zealand: 262 and 205/7 (Luke Ronchi 80, Mitchell Santner not out 57; Mohammad Shami 2/18)
--IANS
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