The crowd had plenty to cheer. Obviously, everything seemed right about Indian cricket.
The bowlers, read spinners, produced the desired package in the first half of the day and helped the team extricate itself from a potentially tough situation.
And then the batsmen took over and went about the business of making runs at a rapid pace, leaving New Zealand staring at a possible defeat in the next 48 hours unless a miracle takes place in the middle at the Green Park Stadium.
Half-centuries by M. Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara and their unbeaten 107-run stand for the second wicket matched the feats of the bowlers and left New Zealand with a lot of worries ahead of the fourth day as India finished at 159 for one.
The first Test here had shades of the India-dominated series at home against Australia and South Africa when rank turners left the visitors hugely embarrassed.
This pitch may not qualify as tailor-made, but the sight of left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner being tossed the ball to bowl the second over of the innings was not an unfamiliar sight.
The home advantage did help the Indian slow bowlers but it was to the credit of the batsmen, too, that they negated the wiles of the Kiwis on a spinner-friendly surface.
Ravindra Jadeja picking up five wickets and R. Ashwin four was an act in sync perfectly with the script that finds favour with the well-wishers of the team.
Jadeja has evolved as a bowler and his strikes have been resounding, beginning with his success with the pink ball in the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy.
He has a distinct style, ripping the ball, using his shoulder, thriving on the pressure created by Ashwin at the other end. His accuracy was a strong point while Ashwin made an impact with his ability to vary the pace and angle of the deliveries.
When New Zealand resumed at 152 for one, the danger of India conceding a big first innings lead lingered. But 110 runs was all that the Kiwis managed as Jadeja and Ashwin bowled India back into contention for the overall honours.
The plan was to attack the stumps and evoke tentative postures from the batsmen and the Indian spinners did a remarkable job. They erred a few times in their anxiety to dominate the battle but managed to keep their composure.
The intrigue of Test cricket came to the fore as New Zealand called the shots and then ceded ground. The lower half of the New Zealand batting had no clue to tackling the turning deliveries, one of which snaked in with lightning intensity to crash past a stunned Kane Williamson’s bat.
Ashwin was the architect of that ball which landed on the ‘rough’ possibly created by left-arm bowler Neil Wagner.
The 124-run stand between Williamson and Tom Latham had threatened to take the game away from India. But the race finished in the home team’s favour.
Williamson’s dismissal, soon after Latham and Ross Taylor, gave the Indian bowlers the fillip. The cream of the Kiwi batting had been taken care of and it was now left to Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner to give the innings direction.
Contentious dismissalJadeja and Ashwin ensured New Zealand remained under pressure.
The contentious dismissal of Ronchi, declared leg-before to a ball that turned much more than usual, may prove the match-changer since it gave India a chance to slice through the lower half with New Zealand losing the last five wickets for 45 runs.
India’s response in the second innings was built on a solid start again by K.L. Rahul and M. Vijay, the latter showing no signs of any discomfort.
Rahul played a few crisp strokes and then fell to a fine catch at slip by Taylor. Vijay was in no mood to let go an opportunity to play a big innings and, with Pujara for company, try and put New Zealand out of the contest.
With an overall lead of 215 runs and nine wickets in hand, India can look forward to cementing the position on the fourth day with a likely fifth-day climax.
