Opener Shikhar Dhawan scored a patient century but New Zealand picked up three wickets in the second session to leave India at 270/5 at tea on day four of the first cricket test, here today.
India lost three wickets -- Virat Kohli (67), Shikhar Dhawan (115) and Ajinkya Rahane (18) in the post-lunch session after dominating the first session at Eden Park here.
At the break, Rohit Sharma (19) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2) were at the crease with India still needing 137 runs for a turn-around victory with five wickets remaining and a session and a day to play.
A 126-run partnership between Shikhar Dhawan (115) and Virat Kohli (67) for the third wicket had set the foundation of India's runchase but Neil Wagner (2-55) dismissed both the batsmen in the second session to leave the match in balance.
Trent Boult (1-46) then struck late in the session, dismissing Rahane with the new ball even though replays showed a thick inside edge.
Dhawan and Kohli had broken the shackles in the morning session and looked to further increase their 84-run stand as the visitors hunted for a turn-around win.
They began in the same fashion as before lunch, scoring freely while being watchful at times, and brought up their 100-run partnership in the 59th over of the innings as also the 200-mark for the chase.
The left-handed opener then reached his second Test hundred, off 169 balls, with eleven fours and one six. It was the first hundred by an Indian opener in the fourth innings of an overseas Test since Sunil Gavaskar's 221 runs versus England at the Oval in 1979.
India would have liked his partner to get a hundred as well but Kohli was out against the run of play in the 61st over. He tried to pull a short and very wide delivery from Wagner, and only ended up getting a fine edge, collected low by keeper BJ Watling.
The run scoring slowed down after that as new batsman Rohit Sharma took his time and Dhawan too got cautious.
In the 75th over, Wagner struck the second blow when he unleashed a short ball directed across Dhawan's body. The opener couldn't get out of its way and gloved it to the keeper, knocking India's momentum.
