Bengaluru: Whichever way you look at it, it was an exceptional Test match. From India, who had a memorable opening day, bowling out the New Zealand quicks for 46, to counter with the Virat Kohli-Sarfaraz Khan partnership (136 runs) and the fireworks Sarfaraz-Rishabh Pant (177 runs), only to be blown away will be against the second new ball. The last seven wickets fell late on Saturday day 4 for 54 runs.

After being dismissed for 462, New Zealand have just a fourth innings target of 107 runs on the final day at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Lower totals have only been defended twice in history, and both times occurred before the 21st century. India may want to take inspiration from the successful defense of 107 runs against Australia in Mumbai in 2004, but that was a rapid turnaround. It was on this pitch in Bengaluru that the new ball caused the most damage.

New Zealand will once again be favorites to record only their third Test win on Indian soil – the last came 36 years ago – but India will not come without a goal. After watching the batters valiantly overcome a 356-run deficit, Jasprit Bumrah will be confident that he can deliver a top-class spell before India’s spin trio attempt to conjure magic.

It was no surprise that India was reluctant to accept the poor silver lining from the umpires that concluded proceedings on the fourth day. Bumrah got flamboyant moves in his unfinished first over.

By the time New Zealand took the second new ball, Sarfaraz and Pant put on a batting show that threatened to turn the Test on its head. Before the two wickets were uprooted, India had compensated for the loss of just three wickets. The audacity of Sarfaraz and the boldness of Pant have never allowed the New Zealand bowlers – spinners and quicks alike – to settle down.

The two set out to bat as they had done earlier in a Duleep Trophy match where they faced a similar situation. “Chalo, your card is here (Let’s do it again),” they said to each other, Sarfaraz revealed in his media interaction.

There were even moments of madness for the former India U19 teammates as they ran between the wickets. Sarfaraz was animated, gesticulating and even flinching in panic to get Pant’s attention and make his partner return to the crease while Pant watched the ball. “I gave the order to run two. Then I realized we had discussed running more carefully because of his knee injury. So I raised my hand to ask him not to run away, but he didn’t look at me. Thank God, Bach Gaye,” he said.

Sarfaraz maintained his appetite for big runs, bringing up his maiden Test hundred and going on to score 150 (195b, 18×4, 3×6). Pant built his own pace at the other end, particularly targeting the left-arm spinners.

Their 177-run fourth wicket stand finally ended when Sarfaraz fell trying to remove the leather from a Tim Southee delivery but handed over a catch at cover. That was the first of the seven remaining wickets that the New Zealand pacers picked with the second new ball.

Pant was next to go, agonizingly missing his hundred-for-one when he played on a throw from William O’Rourke from close to the wicket that split the seam. It was Pant’s seventh dismissal in the 90s. He has six centuries.

After a long day of toil, O’Rourke found his success when the new ball began to dominate the game. He produced a great throw that caught the outside edge of KL Rahul (12) and pushed India back from 408/3 to 438/6 and finally to 462.

“Overall I was pretty loopy… hot and cold with the ball. I think Pant and Sarfaraz batted very well for a long time but the second new ball helped us a bit. So it was good that Timmy (Southee) got the first breakthrough and then was lucky enough to get a knock (Pant wicket) to give us a bit of momentum,” O’Rourke explained.

If it was Matt Henry who tore through the Indian batting line-up with his five in the first innings, O’Rourke picked up Pant, Rahul and Jadeja in the second over to bring the New Zealand storm back into the game and finished the game with one Hit rate of 7/114. The young pacer would have liked to win, but couldn’t get over himself. “I wouldn’t say it’s an easy win from here,” he said.

Sarfaraz said: “It is not an easy wicket to take. The game is still not out of our hands. The ball still cuts. If we get two to three early wickets they will be in trouble.”