After being set a near impossible 434 to win, Ashwin blows away the Kiwi top order becoming the fastest Indian to reach 200 test wickets.
Luke Ronchi has possibly looked the most comfortable against the Indian spinners after skipper Kane Williamson. He is now the only barrier before the Indians to draw first blood this series. After being set an improbable 434 to win the test, the visitors ended day four at 93 for 4 with Ravichandran Ashwin running through their top order becoming the fastest Indian to pick 200 test wickets.
The New Zealand chase got off to a worst possible start as Martin Guptill (0) continued his wretched form by playing an ugly slog of Ashwin only to hit it as far as Murali Vijay at silly point. The offie then went into action replay mode as he trapped Tom Latham (2) leg before in a similar fashion to the first innings. The Black Caps lost both their openers with just three runs on the board inside the first four overs. Kane Williamson (25) and Ross Taylor (17) set out on a repair mission before a ripping off-break from Ashwin accounted for the former who became his 200th test victim.
With Ross Taylor now the only senior player left to guide the visitors to safer shores, one would have expected him to play the day out with responsibility. However, in a schoolboy like error, Taylor failed to ground his bat despite the crossing the crease resulting in a run-out to a direct hit by Umesh Yadav from deep mid-wicket.
Luke Ronchi (38 not out) began from where he left off in the first innings, tackling the spinners with relative ease. Giving him company is Mitchell Santner, who along with Ronchi defied the Indian bowlers for 25 overs in the first innings. The task only gets uphill for the pair as their lower order did not put up much resistance against the spinners in the first essay.
Resuming the day at 159 for 1, New Zealand kept things tight in the first hour of play with the first boundary coming only off the seventh over. They were soon rewarded with the wicket of Murali Vijay (76) who missed out on a century for the second time in the match. Captain Virat Kohli (18) had an edgy stay at the crease as he struggled to dominate the spinners and eventually was caught on the square-leg boundary. Cheteshwar Pujara (78) too missed out a century after falling to Ish Sodhi.
Ajinkya Rahane contributed 40 before the need to step on the pedal was answered by Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. The duo scored at almost five-runs an over to bring up a century. Jadeja continued his good form in the test following up his 42 and a five-for in the first innings with another quick half-century post which Kohli called both the batsmen back into the hut. Rohit Sharma, after throwing his wicket away in the first innings composed a well-measured 68 as well.
If not for Ronchi and Santner, it’s only a matter of time before India wrap-up the game before the caravan shifts to the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
hormazfatakia 
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