IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test played between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
The mighty Indian team succumbed to their lowest total at home on a rare off day in familiar conditions before Devon Conway extended New Zealand's advantage with a steely 91, steering them to 180 for three at stumps on day two of the first Test in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Daryl Mitchell (14) and Rachin Ravindra (22) were manning the crease at stumps as Kiwis built a lead of 134 runs.
Mark Henry (5/15) and William O'Rourke (4/22) engineered the hosts' batting collapse, dismantling India for 46, their lowest innings total at home in Tests.
India's day was made even gloomier later as Rishabh Pant limped out of the field after a sharply-turned ball from Ravindra Jadeja slammed on to his left knee.
The visiting batters needed to build on the phenomenal effort of the bowlers, and Conway did the job to perfection.
He first added 67 runs for the opening wicket with skipper Tom Latham (15), who fell to Kuldeep Yadav, and then 75 with Will Young for the second as New Zealand marched ahead confidently.
Conway and Young (33), who was dropped on 32 by Rohit Sharma at first slip off Jadeja, staved off India's charges.
Conway brought up his fifty in just 54 balls with a six off Ravichandran Ashwin over the bowler's head.
Young was more fortuitous but gave brave company to Conway before perishing to Jadeja in his attempt to sweep the left-arm spinner.
The 33-year-old Conway gauged the pace and bounce of the surface to a nicety, and displayed the footwork of a boxer to negate the Indian spinners.
There was a hint of double bounce on the Chinnaswamy deck, a few balls from Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep staying ankle high but Conway was a picture of concentration.
It was quite exceptional to play over 100 balls without even a single false shot on a pitch like this and against an accomplished set of bowlers.
That until he decided to play a needless reverse sweep against Ashwin to get bowled, and he was understandably gutted while walking away.
Much before Conway's batting masterclass, the New Zealand pacers created their own thunder under gloomy Bengaluru skies.
The duo of Henry and O'Rourke used their high release point to generate disconcerting bounce from hard lengths, which the India batters found tough to negotiate.
Earlier, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav provided the much-needed breakthrough as New Zealand reached 82/1 at tea on day two of the opening Test to extend their first-innings lead against India to 36 runs in Bengaluru on Thursday.
New Zealand captain Tom Latham was trapped leg-before by Kuldeep for 15, but Devon Conway's unbeaten 61 powered the Kiwis' charge.
Conway (61) and Will Young (5) were at the crease when the teams went out for the short break after India suffered a collapse, this time to their lowest innings total at home.
After bundling out India for a record low of 46, New Zealand batted confidently to reach 82/1 at tea in their first innings to claim the upper-hand over the shocked hosts.
Conway, who creamed a fifty in 54 balls, and skipper Tom Latham (15) added 67 runs for the first wicket to consolidate the Blackcaps' position before the latter departed.
Kuldeep fetched India's first wicket, when he had Latham leg before through a DRS call.
India were on Thursday bowled for just 46 runs in their first innings, their lowest total in a home Test on the second day of the rain-hit opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru.
India's previous lowest score at home was 75, recorded against West Indies in New Delhi in 1987.
The Indian batters struggled to negotiate the conditions, folding in 31.1 overs. As many as five Indian batters returned without bothering the scorer Rishabh Pant top-scored for the hosts with his 20 off 49 balls.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) was the only other batter to reach double digits.
Matt Henry (5/15), William O'Rourke (4/22), and Tim Southee (1/8) were in fine form, dominating the proceedings as India lost six wickets for just 34 runs during a stunning first session.
In the second session, India could add only 12 runs, losing the remaining four wickets.
Earlier, New Zealand pacers, led by the relentless William O'Rourke (3/13), exploited the overcast conditions to the hilt to reduce a clueless India to a disastrous 34 for six at lunch after a truncated first session on the second day of the opening Test in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Rishabh Pant (15, 41b) was at the crease after Ravindra Jadeja (0) was dismissed at the stroke of lunch. The first day of this match was called off due to rain.
Earlier, once the rain stayed away, Rohit Sharma opted to bat under a grey sky and none of the Indian batters looked comfortable including the skipper himself.
He was the first batter to depart. After nudging around for 15 balls, Rohit (2) wanted to free himself with an expansive drive but Tim Southee's wobble seam delivery that cut back appreciably disturbed his stumps.
Before delving further into Indian batters' turmoil, Matt Henry's opening spell needs to be mentioned in block letters as the Kiwi pacer troubled them no end.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who stood a foot outside the crease to nullify swing, was all at sea against Henry.
There were several play-and-miss occasions in his innings, as one would expect in these conditions, but the left-hander showed some spunk to stay in the middle.
Virat Kohli (0) walked in at the rather unfamiliar No. 3 slot, but his stay was snapped after nine balls.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham introduced O'Rourke and the pacer immediately netted the big fish.
Kohli looked to jab a climbing delivery to the on side but he was not in control as the ball deflected off his gloves en route to Glenn Phillips at leg gully.
Sarfaraz Khan, who came into the eleven after a stiff neck forced Shubman Gill to sit out of this match, was in no mood to hang around even when the ball was moving around.
On the third ball he faced, the Mumbai man tried to slap Henry over mid-off but Devon Conway made a leap of faith to grab the ball, leaving Henry in a fit of laughter.
At 10 for three, it was even an understatement to say that India were in danger, and the home side required a massive lift from there.
Perhaps, a short rain-break from 10.27 AM to 11.05 AM too helped India to gather themselves a wee bit.
Pant, who was dropped on 7 by stumper Tom Blundell off O'Rourke, got India's first boundary of the day in the fifth ball of the 12th over, a mash through the covers off the same bowler.
But Jaiswal's patience did not pay off (13, 63b) as he fell to O'Rourke, as Ajaz Patel completed a stunning catch at point off a rasping cut shot by the batter.
The dismissals of KL Rahul (0), caught down the leg side by Blundell off O'Rourke, and Jadeja pushed India further to the wall, leaving Pant to relaunch rescue mission in the second session.
