The session, however, started on a bright note for India with Yashasvi Jaiswal (77) continuing his assault on the New Zealand bowlers. His intent and shot selection were bang on point, putting the bowlers under severe pressure. Santner, though, was yet to wield his magic. He began his masterclass by taking out Shubman Gill who edged one to slip. The left-arm spinner then landed the killer blow by finding the outside edge of Jaiswal's blade. A major plot point here was the fact that the opener had reduced playing his sweeps after lunch, presumably due to an aching back for which he was undergoing treatment even in between overs.
Jaiswal's dismissal was a huge setback for India but things got worse in a jiffy as Rishabh Pant found himself run out after an error in judgement with Virat Kohli. From 127/2, the home side were suddenly 127/4 and lost two dynamic left-handers who could have kept New Zealand's left-arm spin threat at bay to an extent. India did juggle their batting order to maintain the left-right combo and this meant Washington Sundar's promotion to no.6. It was a smart tactic but one that couldn't stop Santner. The left-arm spinner got Kohli for the second time in the game and did the same to Sarfaraz a while later before also knocking Sundar over.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin hung on to prevent further damage but there seems to be an air of inevitability to the result already. While the other bowlers haven't been as threatening on a consistent basis, Santner has exploited the Pune track to deadly effect, leaving India in tatters.
Brief scores: New Zealand 259 and 255 (Tom Latham 86; Washington Sundar 4-56, Ravindra Jadeja 3-72) lead India 156 and 178/7 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77; Mitchell Santner 5-72) by 180 runs
