Kanpur Test: R Ashwin guides India closer to victory against New Zealand in historic 500th Test

Ravichandran Ashwin with teammates celebrates the wicket of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on the fourth day of the first Test match at Green Park in Kanpur on Sunday PicPTIKanpurIndia positioned themselves for a massive win in their 500th cricket Test by polishing off the New Zealand toporder after setting them a colossal 434run target propelled by unbeaten halfcenturies from Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja in Kanpur todayNew Zealand were tottering at 93 for four in their second innings with the exuberant Luke Ronchi 38 and the steady Mitchell Santner 8 at the crease when stumps were drawn on the fourth dayThe Black Caps require a historydefying effort to win the Test as no team has ever chased such a daunting targetThey still need 341 runs and batting three sessions on a fifthday wicket is not something visiting teams have achieved often in IndiaEarlier negotiating a spinfriendly track with aplomb Rohit 68 and Jadeja 50 raised a 100run stand in quick time after India lost four wickets starting the day at 159 for oneIndias Ravindra Jadeja plays a shot during the 4th Day of first test match against New Zealand at Green Park in Kanpur on Sunday PicPTILeftarm spinner Mitchell Santner dismissed two batsmen while Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig claimed a wicket apiece but only to see the next Indian pair hammer them around the park as India declared their second innings at 377 for five at the stroke of teaRohit and Jadeja never looked uncomfortable on the deteriorating fourthday Green Park track entertaining the Sunday crowd with some quality strokes including three sixes by the lefthanderHowever when Indian spinners bowled New Zealand batsmen were were all at sea on the pitch as offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin removed both the openers Martin Guptill 0 and Tom Latham 2 in the space of five balls to cause ripples in the rival campNew Zealands wicket keeper BJ Watling L watches as Indias Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the fourth day of the first Test match between India and New Zealand at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur PicAFPGuptill was first to go by handing an inside edge to forward shortleg fielder while lefthanded Latham was caught in front of the wicket while defendingAshwin could have got Kane Williamson 25 when he was on 16 had Umesh Yadav held on to a tough chance at square leg boundary but the offspinner did not have to wait for long to see the back of the New Zealand captain as he trapped him soon and completed a milestone of 200 Test wicketsHe is only the ninth Indian to get that figure but fastest among all doing it in his 37th match He bettered Harbhajan Singhs record who took 46 matchesAshwin is the second fastest in the world behind Australian Clarrie Grimmett 36 matchesA run out was the last thing that New Zealand needed but Ross Taylor blundered by not grounding his bat even when he had made the crease attempting a couple of runs with RonchiRonchi had pushed the ball through covers and there was no scope of a run out However Yadavs direct hit converted it into a wicket out of nothing Taylor would certainly rue the silly mistakeThis happened after Ashwin saw a second chance grassed by the fielder off his bowling Ronchi on 3 at the time drove him uppishly edged the ball high in the air but Murali Vijay could not catch it while running backwardsEarlier after losing three wickets in the opening session India also lost Ajinkya Rahane 40 but Rohit and Jadeja ensured that the hosts do not suffer any more reversal after thatThey raised an unconquered 100run stand for the sixth wicket and the moment Jadeja got a single off Santner to get to his halfcentury Indian captain Virat Kohli declared and umpired called the tea breakJadeja celebrated his milestone by wielding his bat like a sword before the two batsmen walked off the field Rohit and Jadeja played in contrasting fashion with the lefthander being more aggressive even as they scored 125 runs in the second session after Rahane was trapped by SantnerMurali Vijay congratulates Cheteshwar Pujara after the latter completed his halfcentury against New Zealand in Indias second innings on the third day of the first Test match at Green Park in Kanpur on Saturday PicPTIBoth overnight batsmen Murali Vijay 76 and Cheteshwar Pujara 78 departed along with skipper Virat Kohli 18 in the morning session but took their lead past the 300run mark by adding 93 runs to the overnight totalExcept for two overs Williamson had his spinners operating from both ends and each one of the three spinners delivered a wicket apieceVijay and Pujara batted for about 10 overs together before Santner broke the 133stand between them by trapping the former Vijay played for turn missed and the ball struck his pad before hitting the outside edge of his bat He could add only 12 runs to his overnight totalKohli walked in to a boisterous welcome by the crowd and pulled a short one from Sodhi to midwicket boundary The New Zealand spinners managed to turn a few balls creating some doubts in the minds of the Indian batsmen Kohli and Pujara played on merit of the balls and found occasional boundary It was not easy find quick boundariesOffbreak bowler Mark Craig ensured that Kohli does not stay for long at the crease The home captain attempted a sweep but just managed a top edge that flew to deep midwicket where Sodhi took the catchKane Williamson persisted with Santner and Craig for some time before bringing back Sodhi The legbreak bowler ended Pujaras stay at the crease by having him caught at slipsThe ball pitched outside leg Pujara tried to defend but it turned sharply took an edge and went straight to Ross Taylor who took a low catchCraig troubled Rahane a lot and almost had him caught in space of three balls but he survived One chance went abegging in leg slip and the other at the short midwicketHowever Rahane was comfortable against Sodhi driving him nicely on the front foot Rohit smashed Sodhi for a four and took Indias lead to 300run mark with a single off Craig15 minutes before the lunch break Williamson handed the ball for the first time to paceman Neil Wagner but the Indian batsmen saw him and others through to the lunch