Wellington Test Day 3: Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari take India to 144/4 in second innings at stumps

File Image

Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari guide India to 144 for four in their second innings against New Zealand at stumps on the third day of the first Test at Basin Reserve in Wellington on Sunday. 

At the end of the day's play, India were still trailing by 39 runs against the Black Caps, with Rahane and Vihari batting at their respective scores of 25* and 15*.

BJ Watling (14*) and Colin de Grandhomme (4*) resumed the third day for New Zealand at 216 for five in their first innings, maintaining a 51-run lead over India.

However, Watling was stumped by Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on the very first delivery of the day by Jasprit Bumrah. 

De Grandhomme (43) and debutant Kylie Jamieson (44) then joined forces to share a crucial 71-run stand before Trent Boult also contributed with 24-ball 38. New Zealand were eventually bundled out for 348 in their first innings. 

Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with five wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin finished with three wickets. Mohammad Shami and Bumrah also chipped in with a wicket each. 

In the second innings, Trent Boult struck twice to remove Indian opener Prithvi Shaw (14) and Cheteshwar Pujara (11) cheaply. 

However, opener Mayank Agarwal smashed a calm and composed 58-run knock off 99 balls to take the visitors close to the 100-run mark before he was stumped by BJ Watling off Tim Southee's delivery.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who was dismissed cheaply for two runs in the first innings, once again failed to click with the bat and went back to the pavilion after scoring 19 runs. Subsequently, Rahane and Vihari joined forced in a bid to rebuild India's innings. 

For New Zealand, Boult has picked up three wickets so far in the second innings while conceding just 27 runs. Meanwhile, Southee also chipped in with a wicket.