Nagpur, India: India seam bowlers Shantakumaran Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma produced inspiring spells on Saturday to leave New Zealand tottering at 148 for seven on the first day of the third and final test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Sreesanth and Sharma produced early strikes and were well supported by the spinners as top-ranked India made a good start in its attempts to win the series after draws in the opening two matches at Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Brendon McCullum (34) and Tim Southee (7) were the not out batsmen at the close of play as New Zealand stuttered through two sessions after electing to bat following a delayed start due a wet outfield.
Sreesanth (two for 20) got India off to a perfect start by removing both New Zealand openers in successive overs of his spell with the new ball.
He induced an edge from Martin Guptill for wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take a comfortable catch in the seventh over of the innings and then bowled left-hander Tim McIntosh to reduce New Zealand to 16 for two.
Sharma (two for 32) took both wickets in his second spell, after he had changed ends. He trapped Ross Taylor lbw for 20 and bowled New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who edged the ball on to his stumps.
In between, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha removed Kane Williamson for zero, caught by Virender Sehwag at short cover.
New Zealand was reduced to 51 for five at that stage, with McCullum yet to bat. McCullum, who scored a double-century opening the innings in the previous test, suffered a slight back injury during training this morning and was not able to bat in the top order.
Vettori said they went in with McCullum since he was too good a batsman to leave out.
"He gets these spasms once in a while and we took a chance hoping he would come in to bat only tomorrow," Vettori said. "I had no hesitation in deciding to bat first, but the Indian bowlers put the ball in the right places."
Ojha also removed Gareth Hopkins in the final session and then Harbhajan Singh came on to break a developing partnership between Jesse Ryder and McCullum, who were slow with their running between the wickets as both are not fully fit.
Ryder, carrying a calf muscle injury that has prevented him from bowling, slashed at a ball outside the off-stump to give Suresh Raina a low catch in the covers after hitting 59 from 113 balls, including five fours.
"It has been a good performance from us since McCullum is the only main batsman left," Ojha said. "It is only a matter of time before we get the remaining wickets."
Earlier, no play was possible in the first session. Showers over the past few days had rendered one end of the ground soggy and the umpires made repeated inspections before announcing that play would be possible only after a three-hour delay.
The boundary line at the pavilion end had to be brought up by a couple of yards in order to get rid of the problem area even as the umpires announced that there would be two two-and-a-half hour sessions on Saturday.
Both teams made a change each from the second test in Hyderabad.
India brought in Sharma for Zaheer Khan, who is out of the squad due to a groin strain. New Zealand replaced Brent Arnel with left-arm seamer Andy McKay.
