New Zealand, spearheaded by a career-best seven-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and a half-century by skipper Tom Latham took a 301-run lead against India on day two of the second Test on Friday.
Santner (7/53 in 19.3 overs) ran through India’s dreadful batting as they collapsed for 156. It gave New Zealand a first-innings lead of 103 runs after the visitors had notched 259 on the opening day.
Santner stood out for New Zealand with his left-arm spin as he claimed his first five-wicket haul in 29 Test appearances.

One of the seven wickets was that of Virat Kohli who perished after going across the line to a fulltoss. Kohli, who scored just one run, played the uncharacteristic shot and missed the ball completely to highlight his poor display against spin in the continent.
“It was more of a shock to get Kohli out like that. It was more of a slower delivery. The change of pace was the key today,” said the spinner in the post-match press conference.
While speaking to the host broadcaster, he said he drew inspiration from India’s Washington Sundar who took seven wickets in the first innings and added four more in the second.

“I just tried to play with angles. Tried to vary it up. Just watched Washy [Washington Sundar] and that looked cool so I thought will do that,” he said at the end of the day’s play.
“Tried to find the right speed. It changed as the game went on. I just tried to keep the speed to 90. And tried to keep it there. Tried to change the speed later on, but it was good,” he added.
India’s poor batsmanship saw the team slump to 107/7 at lunch. After a positive start, six wickets fell for the addition of 53 runs.
Santner returned in the post-lunch session to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah cheaply.
“The pitches spin which is nice. We don’t get that back home. There is assistance for spin, which is nice,” he said on the spin-friendly surface.
With New Zealand leading by 301 runs and in command of the Test and the series having clinched the opener, Santner said, “It is a great feeling. To put ourselves in a position to potentially win a Test was cool. The batters did well, wasn’t easy and building the partnerships was key.”