Pujara gone too.

Jamieson is on fire.

Rahane is struggling. Mayank and Iyer might do well.

Rahane gone!

Interesting start

51/3 lead of 100

Southee bowling beautifully without luck so far

Agarwal gone

Finally some luck for Tim

51/4 lead still 100

Jadeja lbw 51/5 lead still 100

As long as Iyer is on crease...

Yes India are still favourite but it is closer now

I don't think they are gonna score big if Iyer gone.

If they get all out before lunch, I will wish for pitch to show same behavior for the rest of the day. :P

Hoping for a chase of 180-210. Would be exciting.

Already 122 ahead

Can't say about cricket. As long as Iyer on crease, you can expect a nice target.

Ashwin going well

Lunch

70/4 in session 1

Lead is 133

@PaulWhite Ashwin can be night watchman if needed.

Ashwin gone bowled Jamieson

103/6 lead by 152

Lead is 200

50 for Iyer

Game slipping away from NZ

They will have to play for draw.

Yeah. Not very exciting. Shame.

There is still 150 minutes of game left.

They are going for 300-350

Pointless

Which is less likely to be scored in 5th

@PaulWhite Although the host will try to win

I saw only two occasions ever where a foreign team has successfully chased > 200 in the fourth innings in India

@AJ Sure, of course. It's just not exciting to watch.

Will be for me. 😝

Maybe Iyer will get another century

Jinxed

@AJ Yes I was just hoping for a tense finish where all three results are possible on the 5th day.

Oh dear

Ooops

Sorry that wasn't deliberate

Still a century and a fifty on debut is impressive

No worries

Yes it is

And the game is pretty much over so I would have liked to see him get 100

NZ can get back in the game from here

No I don't think so

Our spinners aren't good enough.

I would like to see Wagner in for the second Test

It's just 2 tests series, right?

I think we could have chased 150. Maybe 180. 200 would have been challenging.

@AJ Yes unfortunately so

Three Tests or even five would have been better

@PaulWhite Let's see now. I don't hope for 300 now

@PaulWhite 5 is too long. 3 is fine.

Aren't the Ashes five Tests?

Yes, but I think 3 is enough

Wagner could help in taking wickets early.

We have Bangladesh for two Tests in January then South Africa for two in February. That's it.

No one wants to play us it seems.

Wagner would provide a good test for the batsmen on shorter balls

And he does not give up ever

Love Wagner

I suppose there's no money in playing NZ at Test cricket

Shame about the Pakistan tour of course

@PaulWhite Aren't there any games scheduled with Aus and England?

@AJ Aus is only T20s

England is June 2022

@PaulWhite Pakistan can held their matches UAE. They could play more games that way.

Yeah

Perhaps something will be rescheduled

@PaulWhite I don't think your cricket board takes game as a profitable business like ours. They seem to give proper rest to each player so they can spend some time with family.

Maybe.

Like there is no game during Christmas break.

Well we did play Australia for a Boxing Day Test last year or the year before but they have the Ashes this time

And Australia have said they prefer to play teams that attract bigger crowds

Maybe pandemics and borders are also a factor idk

All I know is we have historically struggled to get teams to play us especially for Tests

Maybe I'm biased 😀

NZ's weather doesn't allow playing for 12 months, does it?

Well population could be a factor. There is not much crowd. My city has 5 times more population than your country.

Maybe being a WTC champion will allow you to play more games but it doesn't seem likely.

No cricket is not a Winter game here and yeah population is an issue

Saha leading India towards a big score.

@PaulWhite Rugby is more popular there, isn't it?

yes

I wonder if India will declare tonight

They have to if they want to win.

200 up

They might score 50 more before declaring.

Lead is already 250

9 overs to new ball

Yes, but 300 would make India safe.

Probably an hour of play left

Probably, yes.

At the moment it looks like India are playing for the draw 😂

Nah. to be safe.

Old ball, tired bowlers, chance to bowl at NZ before close of play and the batsmen are blocking

You'd think one of them would be trying to hit some boundaries at this stage

They should have declared at 250, but they want to be safe.

Perhaps Saha is waiting for his 50

45 minutes left

Even if they declare now, there would be 30 minutes game at most.

Perfect chance to take a couple of wickets

I don't suppose it really matters, but it seems like an odd strategy to me

True

20-30 minutes for the NZ openers would be painful. No chance to do anything except get out.

Well there's the 50

It took a long time for him to get one

Aha here we go

A six

He was waiting for his 50! Ah no that was Axar

What will win? New ball or declaration?

New ball

Available but not taken it seems

Declared 234/7

284 to win

Young given out lbw. Didn't review in time. Missing the wickets by a lot.

NZ 4/1

Umpires aren't very good but batsmen should never let the DRS timer expire.

Stumps

280 with 9 wickets remaining.

Would have been practically impossible even with Young

True

Ashwin really lacks the sportsmanship.

@PaulWhite Young asked for DRS in the last second and Ashwin asked umpires to reject the appeal.

Yes it doesn't feel like the Spirit of Cricket to me