Martin's heroics puts New Zealand on top
A brilliant spell of bowling from Chris Martin left the first Test Match between India and New Zealand excitingly poised at the close of day four.
Martin took for 5-25 as India's batting slumped to leave it with a lead of only 110 runs with six second innings wickets remaining.
In a dramatic collapse, India lost their top five batsmen with only 17 runs on the board after dismissing New Zealand for 459, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also dismissed as India closed on 82-6
After taking New Zealand's last four wickets for 42 runs, India was off to a shock start as they losing Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid in the space of 4.5 overs.
Gambhir fell for a duck while first innings centurions Sehwag and Dravid were dismissed after scoring identical singles to leave India tottering at two for three at tea.
Gambhir and Dravid were dismissed by fast bowler Chris Martin while Sehwag was brilliantly run out by substitute fielder Martin Guptill.
Immediately after tea, India then lost Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina.
Before losing the clutter of wickets, Pragyan Ojha picked up a career-best four-wicket haul as India dismissed New Zealand for 459 to take a token first innings lead of 28.
After New Zealand almost saw off the first session without losing any wicket, they lost four in the post-lunch period to be all out one hour and 25 minutes into the session.
Left-arm spinner Ojha, who dismissed debut centurion Kane Williamson with his third ball of the last over before lunch for 131 in 391 minutes, sent back wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins post lunch to finish with career-best innings figures of 4 for 107 in 53 overs.
The 24-year-old Hyderabad cricketer, who sent back Brendon McCullum and B J Watling yesterday, bettered his previous best of 4 for 115 claimed against Sri Lanka when India visited the island nation a few months ago.
Part time bowler Suresh Raina dismissed rival captain Daniel Vettori for 41 without any addition to New Zealand's total before Hopkins was sent back.
New ball bowlers S Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan later packed off Jeetan Patel and Hamish Bennett respectively to terminate the visitors' first innings short of India's own.
In a dramatic collapse on either side of lunch, New Zealand lost their bottom half for 42 runs after threatening to overtake the Indian total when they were 417 for five before Williamson was caught in the slips off Ojha on the stroke of lunch.
The other wicket takers for India, who made 487 in the first innings, were Zaheer Khan (2), Shantakumaran Sreesanth (2), Harbhajan Singh and part timer Suresh Raina (one each).
But New Zealand rocked India with three early wickets when the hosts started their second innings late in the middle session.
Pacer Martin removed Gautam Gambhir for a duck with the third ball. The left-handed opener, who made 21 in the first essay, prodded at a ball that angled away and was caught off the inside edge.
India were dealt a severe blow when Sehwag, who top-scored with a brilliant 173 in the first innings, was run-out at the non-striker's end when Dravid drove Vettori to deep mid-off. Guptill made a brilliant stop and flicked back the ball with the opener well short of the crease after having been sent back by the striker.
To make matters worse, Dravid fell poking at Martin in the last over to be caught behind by Hopkins though he appeared to be dissatisfied with the verdict.
In the New Zealand innings, Vettori was the first to leave post lunch when he edged Suresh Raina while trying to cut the part time bowler to Indian counterpart and stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
His dismissal in the second over meant the Kiwis had lost both Williamson and Vettori, who put on 86 runs in 165 balls for the sixth wicket, in the space of ten balls at the same score of 417 on either side of lunch.
Ojha was making the ball turn a bit and he was rewarded when visiting wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins was rapped on the back pad by a fuller length off break as he stretched forward to defend and was declared out for 14.
The strike nipped the eighth wicket stand between the Kiwi stumper and Jeetan Patel (14) who too was dismissed at the same score of 445 when Sreesanth reverse-swung the ball in late to uproot his stumps.
New Zealand, who lost these three wickets in the first hour's play while adding 39 runs in 15.3 overs, were all out when Zaheer Khan broke the last wicket partnership between no. 10 Hamish Bennett and last man Chris Martin by sending back the former.
In the morning, 20-year-old Williamson became the first batsman from his country since 2002 to complete a Test century on debut.
Williamson, overnight 87 in a team score of 331 for five chasing India's first innings total of 487, reached the coveted landmark with a glanced four off left arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan half an hour into the day's play.
He got out in the last ball before lunch, edging Ojha while pushing at the turning ball, to lone slip fielder V V S Laxman after making a splendid 131 in 391 minutes, 299 balls. It had ten fours in it.
Williamson is the eighth batsman from his country to achieve the feat of scoring a century in his debut Test and the first after eight years, Scott Styris being the previous Kiwi batsman to have achieved the feat in Guyana against the West Indies.