"After losing the toss, I think we are in a reasonably good position. It was pretty flat to start with. They did bat well. We were lucky to have got a few wickets here and there to pull it back. Obviously, we have to pick up this last wicket and then bat well, build partnerships," Santner, who claimed three key Indian wickets, said.
Talking about crucial moment that tilted the scale in New Zealand's favour, Santner said while India captain Virat Kohli was a key wicket, it was important to dismiss others too.
"They got a very good start at 100 for one. That partnership between Vijay and Pujara was great. Like you said, Kohli is a big wicket, but India have a very strong batting line-up going down to Jadeja at No.9. So every wicket we got was crucial because they can all take it away from you.
Also Read
When told that India also think that they are in a good position, Santner refused to debate on the point.
"There's a lot of cricket to be played still. First things first, it's to get the last wicket early tomorrow and then once we bat, build partnerships and go from there. I don't think we can get too far ahead in terms of thinking about chasing a fourth-innings score at the moment. Just take it day by day and go from there," he said.
"They did bat well. Both Pujara and Vijay looked quite positive against the spinners. They had a plan. They really rotated the strike pretty well, which was key. Our plan doesn't change too much, it was to bowl in good areas, build pressure that way and get wickets. The ball wasn't spinning too much than it did later on. 291/9, not too bad," he said.
The left-arm spinner said scoring was tough on the slow Green Park wicket.
Santner also emphasised that varying the pace and the length of the ball was important when the rival team had good partnerships going.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content