New Delhi: Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin struck with the ball to deliver an early jolt to his opponents as he departed Will Young towards the end of day's play to ensure team India walk back as the happy side, and Kiwis don't succeed in heading back unscathed.
At Stumps of day 4 of Ind vs NZ 1st Test, New Zealand were 4/1 while chasing a mammoth 284-run target for the victory. If the Kiwis pull off the chase they will create history as no visiting team has chased down 276-plus total in 4th innings in India.
Earlier, Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel combined well after Tea break to put up a solid stand after debutant Shreyas Iyer fell for a hard-fought 65, pushing India's lead past 250. Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee were the pick of Kiwi bowlers as the duo bagged three wickets apiece.
Shreyas Iyer steadied the Indian innings when the team was struggling after losing five wickets for 51 runs. His 65-run innings included eight fours and a six.
Shreyas shared 52-run stand with R Ashwin for the sixth wicket and 64-run stand for the seventh wicket with wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha. On the back of these two partnerships, India were able to pull themselves back into the game.
India playing: Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav
New Zealand playing: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William Somerville