India were in real danger of crashing to a humiliating series defeat at home as they limped to 178-7 at tea on day three of their second test against New Zealand while chasing 359, as Mitchell Santner claimed five wickets on Saturday.
Ravichandran Ashwin was batting on nine and Ravindra Jadeja was on four not out at the break, with India still 181 runs away from their target after being outplayed completely.
Yashasvi Jaiswal went on the attack with some cracking shots to get India off to a rollicking start, but his dismissal for 77 by Santner and Rishabh Pant’s run out for a duck after lunch left India in deep trouble at 127-4.
Santner, who had earlier removed Rohit Sharma for eight and Shubman Gill for 23, continued to torment India as the left-arm spinner trapped trump card Virat Kohli lbw for 17 and sent the alarm bells ringing in the home changing room.
Sarfaraz Khan was unable to recreate his batting heroics from the first match, perishing for nine after missing a low one from Santner to hand the bowler his fifth wicket.
The shoulders really dropped when Washington Sundar fell for 21 to Glenn Phillips late in the afternoon.
New Zealand were bowled out for 255 in their second innings after skipper Tom Latham’s 86 and handy contributions lower down the order put them in a strong position to secure a first-ever series victory in India.
India’s highest successful run chase at home is the 387-4 they scored to beat England in Chennai in 2008 on a far better track than the one at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, where spinners have wreaked havoc.
The hosts are looking to avoid their first series defeat on home soil since losing to England in 2012, with their record of 18 successive home series wins since that 2-1 humbling also on the line.
Resuming on 198-5 with their lead already more than 300 runs on an increasingly tough pitch, New Zealand trotted along nicely in the morning until Jadeja castled Tom Blundell for 41 for his first wicket of the match.
Santner, who took 7-53 to give the Black Caps the upper hand on Friday, looked to target Jadeja but misread a looped delivery from the left-arm spinner and was caught in the deep for four.
Former skipper Tim Southee followed him back into the dugout almost immediately, edging spinner Ashwin to Rohit, who showed quick reflexes to pull off a superb catch at slip and draw loud cheers from the crowd.
Washington took a fine running catch in the deep as Ajaz Patel fell for one to Jadeja while William O’Rourke was run out by the bowler for a duck, leaving Phillips stranded on a well-made 48 not out.
