The hosts began the day at 16-1 in reply to New Zealand’s 259 all out but Santner’s career-best 7-53 rolledIndia for 156 and Tom Latham’s 86 with the bat then saw the Black Caps reach the close at 198-5, giving them a lead of 301 runs.
By no means is this test a foregone conclusion.
The spinning pitch on offer will mean New Zealand’s overnight pair of Tom Blundell (30 not out) and Glenn Phillips (9 not out) face an unenviable task on the morning of day three to get back in and try to swell the Black Caps’ lead.
With wickets tailor-made to suit India and India alone, Black Caps sides of the past have travelled to the subcontinent and been undone by quality spin bowlers, time and time again.
This time around though, as seen by Latham, and Rachin Ravindra, positivity with the bat will be vital in New Zealand building a lead too large for India to overcome in the fourth innings. But as the contest enters day three, the Black Caps are the team in the ascendancy.
“It is satisfying, we know how challenging it can be in these conditions,” Santner said after day two. “We’ve seen India squeeze a lot of teams for a long time.
“What was pleasing with the bat was guys trying to fire some shots, play some sweeps and take on the bowlers.
“We spoke about trying to fire the first shot, have a little more intent, and see what happens.
“The job’s not finished with the bat, but when guys have shown they can sweep, use their feet, get down to the pitch. We’ve been in better positions to score and defend.
“On tour here in 2016, we ended up bowling a lot, and then it was spinning, we tried to just defend it and ended up getting out all the time.”
Day two in particular was a reward for Santner.
Entering this test, the 32-year-old’s career record read 54 wickets from 28 tests at an average of more than 40, with best figures of 3-34. And while still nothing to write home about, that average now reads 38.19 – and 7-53 are his best bowling figures in any form of cricket.
In one sense, Santner could consider himself fortunate to even be playing this test, after Matt Henry – one hero of the first test win in Bengaluru – was forced out by a glute injury.
However, India might just have proven to be the architects of their own downfall as a pitch designed to exploit the Black Caps’ weaknesses saw Santner become their weapon. And with Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra alongside him, and with Ish Sodhi on the sidelines, it was Santner who best exploited what was on offer to let Kiwi cricket fans dream.
Mitchell Santner celebrates his seven-wicket haul. Photo / Photosport
“It was one of those days where I just got the wickets,” he said. “I thought in Sri Lanka, I bowled pretty well at times and was unlucky. We speak about bowling in partnerships a lot. That’s very important out here.
“If we can build from both ends, one guy can get wickets and one guy will do more of the holding role.
“We speak about those partnerships, and making it as hard as we can for the batters.”
Regardless of how many runs they can set, the Black Caps’ task won’t be complete unless they can take another 10 wickets.
In their favour, though, is the fact that of their three completed innings so far in this series, India’s stellar batting line-up – the envy of every test cricket side on the planet – have failed twice.
After being bowled out for just 46 in the first innings at Bengaluru, India made 462 in the second, on a wicket that was harder to bat on.
India’s batters may be some of the most adept at playing spin in the world. However, the sight of Virat Kohli playing across the line and being bowled by Santner will give the Black Caps confidence that India’s batting unit are as susceptible to spin as any side in these conditions.
But now 301 runs behind, with three days still to play, it would take something special to keep the series alive heading to the third test in Mumbai next week.
Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
