Guptill, Latham lead New Zealand resistance

Lunch New Zealand 125 for 1 (Guptill 59*, Williamson 3*) trail India 557 for 5 dec by 432 runsLive scorecard and ball- by-ball details

Half-centuries from Martin Guptill and Tom Latham gave New Zealand a strong start in response to India’s mountainous first-innings total before R Ashwin struck 15 minutes before lunch to end their 118-run opening stand. At lunch on day three, New Zealand were 125 for 1, trailing India by 432 runs, with Guptill batting on 59.

Latham had come into this Test match having scored 74 in his last innings, in Kolkata. There, and in this innings, his success was partly down to the method he had worked out to reduce the likelihood of lbw against the spinners, by taking a shorter front-foot stride, and playing with his bat in front of his pad. Even in Kolkata, Ashwin had tried to exploit one pitfall of this technique – the increased chance of the left-hand batsman opening up while looking to play balls around leg stump – with two silly points in place, waiting for the leading edge. Now, he managed to find the leading edge by looping one slower, just outside leg stump, and getting it to grip and turn. Latham, closing his bat-face early, popped up a simple return catch.

Latham had just enjoyed a big slice of luck – looking to sweep Ravindra Jadeja, he had inside-edged the ball onto his boot, and it had then popped up to slip. Umpire Bruce Oxenford, though, …

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