New Zealand’s worst fears were realised as Indian seamer Ishant Sharma tore through their top order to reduce the hosts to 4-51 on the first morning of the second cricket Test in Wellington.
After being sent in on a green Basin Reserve pitch, Black Caps openers Peter Fulton (13) and Hamish Rutherford (12) continued their forgettable summer while debutant Tom Latham departed for an eight-ball duck.
All fell to lanky seamer Sharma, who claimed the trio in the space of 14 balls to have figures of 3-3 as New Zealand slumped to 3-26.
He finished the session with 3-14 while Mohammed Shami (1-17) snared the valuable scalp of New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum for eight soon before lunch.
It left Kane Williamson (15) and Corey Anderson (0) with a steep task after lunch on a fast, bouncy surface.
Sharma adapted best to the conditions, introduced as a first-change bowler after the openers had put on a battling 23.
Rutherford fended a sharply rising ball to first slip and Fulton was trapped leg before by a full delivery that jagged back.
Both openers went past 50 in their first innings of the summer against the West Indies but have failed to do so in seven innings since, leaving uncertainty over their selection prospects for the mid-year tour of the West Indies.
Introduced in place of expecting father Ross Taylor, Latham looked uncomfortable in his short stay and was put out of his misery with a regulation snick to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
Sharma’s spell was a sizzling response to being left out of India’s squad for next month’s World Twenty20 and to a growing band of critics who also question his place in the Test side.
New Zealand’s session went from bad to disastrous when McCullum – whose 224 laid the foundation of their first Test win in Auckland last week – drove lazily at Shami and was caught at mid-off.
Williamson was fortunate not to depart two balls before lunch when he edged to Dhoni but replays showed Zaheer Khan had bowled a front-foot no ball.
Earlier, captain Dhoni ensured he would end the tour with a perfect toss record.
He won it at Eden Park and also in all five one-day internationals – a series his team lost 4-0.
India named an unchanged team from the Auckland Test while the Black Caps have made two changes.
Latham and allrounder James Neesham are both making their debuts in place of Taylor and legspinner Ish Sodhi.
