Ashwin helps India hit back after Southee heroics

Bangalore, September 3: After yet another thrilling day's play, a day made better by the presence of a near 25,000-strong Sunday crowd, the second and final Test is poised such that it could still go either way.

With runs on the board, the lead having swelled to 244 at close on the third day, if at all one team has the slight upper hand, it has to be New Zealand but the Indians could change that with a couple of good partnerships when their turn comes to bat a second time.

It has been that sort of a Test, one that has tested the resolve of both sides to sneak ahead only for the other to catch up.

The Kiwis, having closed the day on 232 for 9, have a mere wicket in the bag, four less than the Indians had at the beginning of the brightest day so far in the game, one that allowed most of the action to be played out under natural light.

India's overnight batsmen duly got past their individual landmarks, Virat Kohli getting to his hundred with the last ball of the first over with the second new ball, while Dhoni had gone past 50 with the first ball of the same over.

But both soon fell to New Zealand's standout bowler Tim Southee, Kohli going first, immediately after his second Test century (103, 284m, 193b, 14x4, 1x6) when he chose to leave a ball headed straight to the stumps to be caught plumb in front.

He was struck outside off but since he hadn't attempted to use his bat, Steve Davis was quick to raise his finger.

With Dhoni (62, 170m, 94b, 8x4, 2x6) it wasn't such a straightforward decision but to umpire Davis' enormous credit, he picked up on the fact that the incoming ball struck the pad first before hitting the bat.

Thereafter, only R Ashwin, also India's bowling hero later on, offered any resistance, even farming the strike with last man Umesh Yadav for as many as 44 minutes as the pair added a crucial 33, one that helped India reach 353 and keep the lead down to 12.

Yadav made four of those 33 runs but Ashwin, who contributed an unbeaten 32 (72m, 40b, 5x4), took the batting form into his bowling and pegged the Kiwis back with his third five-wicket haul from four innings in this series.

Southee (7 for 64), who save for Yadav's, picked the other four wickets in a second new ball spell of 8-2-28-4, ended up with the best innings haul by a Kiwi on Indian soil but then wasn't allowed to enjoy the feat for too long as he was back with the bat late in the day.