Matt Henry and Trent Boult have resurrected New Zealand's hopes in the second cricket test against India with some inspired fast bowling on the third day in Kolkata.
Matt Henry celebrates taking a wicket. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
India dismissed the Black Caps' for 204 at the start of the day to take a handy 112 lead into the second innings.
Henry, who picked up three wickets in India's first innings, added another three to his tally, with Boult picking up two more as India reached 227 for 8 to take an overall lead of 339 into day four this afternoon.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner then picked up the last three wickets of the day, including that of Rohit Sharma who scored 82 runs for the hosts from the 132 balls he faced.
Sharma had combined well with Wriddhiman Saha to put on a seventh-wicket stand of 103 runs, putting India back in the driver's seat after India's second innings got off to a wobbly start.
At stumps on the third day, Saha (39) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8) were at the crease for the hosts, who lead the three-match series 1-0 and will reclaim top spot in the ICC Test rankings from Pakistan with a win at Eden Gardens.
Earlier, New Zealand's Jeetan Patel and BJ Watling compiled a fighting eighth-wicket stand of 60 before Patel fell lbw trying to slog off-spinner Ashwin's first ball of the day .
Patel, who hasn't played a test since January 2013, hit nine fours in his run-a-ball innings of 47 and, with wicketkeeper-batsman Watling, kept India at bay for more than an hour in the first session while compiling his best score.
It was New Zealand's highest individual score in the innings.
- AAP, RNZ
