Washington Sundar scored twice towards the end of the second over to reduce New Zealand to 201 for 5, canceling out half-centuries from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra which kept the visitors in a stable position in the face of a relentless, fast-paced attack from them had Indian Troika.

Apart from some early movement for the pacers and some turn for the spinners, the slow nature of the surface has offered little support to the bowlers so far on Thursday. An outside edge running for a boundary galvanized New Zealand’s innings in the morning, relying largely on the bowlers’ errors in the line to move the ball around and keep the scoreboard moving.

R Ashwin, who was introduced into the attack in the eighth over, managed to turn the ball sharply and catch Tom Latham leg in front. This early release to spin promised the batters a spin test. But that shouldn’t be the case. On a slow surface, the spinners were forced to run at a high pace with all three – Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja – averaging over 90 kmph.

The batters were hit several times and even hit on the pads, but there was little serious threat to their wicket. The only other wicket to fall in Will Young’s morning session was also due to a throw down the leg side that tickled his glove on the way to the keeper.

New Zealand took a slightly more attacking approach in the second session, which began with Devon Conway dropping to cover and Jasprit Bumrah hitting a half-volley on the first ball of the second session to score a boundary that reached his half-century. He followed up with a few more boundaries in the over to take New Zealand’s total past the 100-run mark. Although the visitors continued to be restrictive with their shots, Conway occasionally used reverse momentum, including one in front of Washington that went for a boundary.

It seemed like the batsmen were hardly in trouble before Conway chased down a half-tracker turn from Ashwin, who took the ball to the keeper and ended his stay on 77.

Ashwin and Jadeja bowled a little slower in the second session, got more grip and turns and managed to beat the New Zealand batters’ defense on several occasions, but despite looking shaky, Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell managed to keep piling up the runs and scoring a point score 59-run stand. But in the final 15 minutes, Washington returned to the attack and struck twice in quick succession.

Ravindra, who seemed the most comfortable of the batters and even got out to hit Jadeja on the ground for a six, was blocked and cleaned up by Washington. Two overs later, Tom Blundell was bowled through the gates as the visitors quickly slipped from 197 for 3 to 201 for 5, handing the momentum to India. Interestingly, all five wickets that have fallen so far have come from the Pavilion End, all to the offspinning duo.

Short score: New Zealand 201/5 (Devon Conway 77, Rachin Ravindra 65; R Ashwin 2-48, Washington Sundar 2-34) vs India