Zeenews Bureau
Napier, March 27: The second day of the first Test at Napier yielded ripe benefits for the Kiwi camp as they wrapped up the play with India reeling at 79/3, trailing by 540 runs.
It was the blade of Ryder (201), McCullum (115), Taylor (151) and Vettori (52) that sent the visitors on a leather hunt for most part of the day.
In a stark contrast, India started their chase on the wrong foot and suffered the first jolt in the form of opener Virender Sehwag’s departure. The batsman was claimed by Vettori for a score of 34 runs. He was caught by the keeper off a bottom edge while trying to whack the cherry out of the park.
The next man to follow was fellow Delhi batsman Gautam Gambhir who was lapped up for 16 off a Patel delivery.
Even the night watchman Ishant Sharma could not hold on to his role as he departed for a duck.
The Kiwis had declared their first innings after posting a behemoth 619 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Ishant Sharma was the bowler of the morning as he got the wickets of McCullum, Vettori and Jeetan Patel.
With a big total to cross, the Indian batsmen have their work cut of for themselves if they are to grab that historic Test win in New Zealand.
New Zealand cemented their position in the earlier part of the day as Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori took the total to a massive 592 runs for the loss of six wickets at tea time.
McCullum looked in terrific touch after scoring a fine century and was supported by skipper Vettori who slammed a well earned fifty.
The highlight of the day was the magnificent double century by Jesse Ryder before he was nailed by Zaheer Khan. James Franklin was another casualty of the morning as he ran out of crease after scoring a fine half-century.
