Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed three quick wickets as India gained the upper hand on the second day of the opening Test against New Zealand in Hyderabad on Friday. Off-spinner Ashwin took 3-30 and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha bagged two wickets as New Zealand struggled to reach 106-5 in their first innings at stumps in reply to India's 438. Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-77, 3-125, 4-250, 5-260, 6-387, 7-411, 8-414, 9-430, 10-438.
The tourists now need 133 more runs to avoid a follow-on with five wickets in hand. James Franklin was unbeaten on 31 at stumps with Kruger van Wyk who had yet to open his account. Cheteshwar Pujara earlier cracked a solid 159 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit 73 as India added 131 runs to their overnight total of 307-5 before being bowled out at the stroke of tea.
Ashwin and Ojha got a wicket in their opening overs, removing Brendon McCullum (22) and Martin Guptill (two). McCullum hit three fours in his 27-ball knock. Dhoni pressed Ojha into the attack after only seven overs of pace and the spinner struck with his third delivery when he had McCullum caught by Virat Kohli in the covers.
Ashwin got a wicket with his first delivery when he had Guptill caught by Kohli at backward short-leg before removing captain Ross Taylor (two) in his next over, caught by the same fielder. New Zealand's batting woes against spin continued in the last session when the floodlights were on as Daniel Flynn (16) was trapped leg-before while attempting to sweep Ashwin.
The Indian off-spinner's three wickets came in his opening five overs for just six runs. Ojha got his second wicket when he had Kane Williamson (32) caught by Virender Sehwag in the slips. Dhoni and Pujara earlier consolidated India's position with a 127-run stand for the sixth wicket, while Ashwin contributed 37 runs with five boundaries. The 24-year-old Pujara, playing only his fourth Test, stepped out to attempt a big shot but miscued it and Franklin took a well-judged catch running back from mid-on. He smashed one six and 19 fours in his 306-ball knock. New Zealand took the last five Indian wickets in the afternoon, with Patel and left-arm paceman Trent Boult being the successful bowlers.
Patel finished with 4-100 and Boult with 3-93.
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India 1st innings (overnight 307-5):
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G. Gambhir c van Wyk b Boult 22
V. Sehwag c Guptill b Bracewell 47
C. Pujara c Franklin b Patel 159
S. Tendulkar b Boult 19
V. Kohli c Guptill b Martin 58
S. Raina c van Wyk b Patel 3
MS Dhoni c Bracewell b Patel 73
R. Ashwin st van Wyk b Patel 37
Zaheer Khan c van Wyk b Boult 0
P. Ojha not out 4
U. Yadav run out 4
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Extras: (b6, lb4, w2) 12
Total: (for all out; 134.3 overs) 438
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Bowling: Martin 27-4-76-1 (w1), Boult 27-4-93-3, Bracewell 19.1-1-88-1, Franklin 13.2-0-40-0 (w1), Patel 41-9-100-4, Williamson 7-0-31-0.
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New Zealand 1st innings:
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B. McCullum c Kohli b Ojha 22
M. Guptill c Kohli b Ashwin 2
K. Williamson c Sehwag b Ojha 32
R. Taylor c Kohli b Ashwin 2
D. Flynn lbw b Ashwin 16
J. Franklin not out 31
K. van Wyk not out 0
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Extras: (lb1) 1
Total: (for 5 wkts; 42 overs) 106
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Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-29, 3-35, 4-55, 5-99
Bowling: Zaheer 5-1-20-0, Yadav 3-0-4-0, Ojha 15-4-35-2, Ashwin 14-3-30-3, Sehwag 2-0-4-0, Raina 2-0-6-0, Tendulkar 1-0-6-0.
Toss: India
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Steve Davis (AUS)
TV umpire: Vineet Kulkarni (IND)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).