Debutant Shreyas Iyer followed up his 105 in the first innings with 65 to help India set New Zealand a target of 284 in the first Test in Kanpur. He was well-supported by Wriddhiman Saha, who struck an unbeaten 61 after being off the field with a stiff neck on day three.
In the morning session, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson and Ajaz Patel had reduced India to 51 for 5, but Iyer and R Ashwin eased the hosts' nerves with a 52-run stand for the sixth wicket. Then, Iyer and Saha added 64 for the seventh wicket to take India's lead past 200.
Iyer was caught down the leg side off Southee in the last over before tea but Saha and Axar Patel dashed any hopes New Zealand might have had of keeping the target under 250. The two added 67 in 20.4 overs in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand without showing any urgency until the very end.
India finally declared on 234 for 7, and in the four overs possible before bad light forced stumps, Ashwin dismissed Will Young lbw with the one that kept low. Had Young opted for the review in time, he would have survived as replays showed the ball was spinning past leg stump.
Saha kept wickets at the start of New Zealand's second innings but was substituted by KS Bharat after only two overs.
Earlier, it was surprising to see Kane Williamson starting with batting allrounder Rachin Ravindra after lunch with India placed precariously on 84 for 5. To his credit, Ravindra was tidy but didn't pose much of a threat. From the other end, Southee's short-ball ploy against Ashwin didn't quite come off either.
It was Jamieson who eventually broke the stand with Ashwin chopping one onto his stumps, but by then India's lead had crossed 150.
Meanwhile, Iyer showed great maturity, playing the ball late on a slow pitch and picking up the majority of his runs in the third man region. He brought up his half-century off 109 balls, becoming the first India batter - and 16th overall - to score a hundred and a fifty in his first Test.
Saha stuck around with Iyer and even hit William Somerville for a four and a six off successive deliveries, the first of those shots bursting through Henry Nicholls' fingers at midwicket.
brief scores:
India 1st innings 345
New Zealand 1st innings: 296
India 2nd innings 234/7 dec: Shreyas Iyer 65, Wriddhiman Saha 61n.o., Ravichandran Ashwin 32, Cheteshwar Pujara 22,Axar Pate l28n.o., Kyle Jamieson 3/40, Tim Southee 3/75, Ajaz Patel 1/60
New Zealand 2nd innings: 4/1. cricinfo
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