A pumped up Siraj rocked the Kiwi ship with three quick wickets that rattled them. He struck twice in his second over with the wickets of Will Young [caught by skipper Virat Kohli at slips] and skipper Tom Latham [caught by Shreyas Iyer at deep square leg].

Mayank Agarwal after scoring 150 against New Zealand on Saturday

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Siraj’s first ball off the next over left veteran Ross Taylor stunned. The slight movement knocked off his off stump as Siraj celebrated it wildly. On a hat-trick, Siraj managed to hit Daryl Mitchell’s pads, but even a DRS could not overturn the decision as the ball was pitching outside leg.  

Also Read: Mayank Agarwal's century takes hosts to driver's seat

Ashwin then did further damage as the offie claimed the wicket of Henry Nicholls off the first ball of his opening over. The other two Indian spinners, Axar Patel (2-14) and Jayant Yadav (1-13), wiped off the Kiwi tale along with Ashwin. Just two NZ batters—skipper Tom Latham (10) and Kyle Jamieson (17)—managed to get to double digits.

Despite a 263-run lead, India decided against enforcing follow-on. In the second dig, India were 69 for no loss at the end of Day Two as the hosts boosted their overall lead to 332 runs.

Cheteshwar Pujara opened the innings with first innings highest run-getter Mayank Agarwal after Shubman Gill did not fully recover from the hit on the right elbow while fielding.

Agarwal shines

Agarwal, who struck 150 in the first innings, was watchful as ever and worked his way around to score unbeaten 38. Slow and steady Pujara was seen in a different avatar as he smashed three fours and a six during his 51-ball 29 not out.

Hero of NZ’s first innings, Ajaz was treated with disdain in the second outing as he went for 35 runs in his nine overs. It wasn’t only Ajaz, NZ’s other two spinners William Somerville and Rachin Ravindra too went for runs.  India will look to score quick runs, leaving no scope for the visitors to claw back into the game.

Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara fails, Ajaz Patel strikes triple blow at tea