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Pant hits fifty as India 92-6 in chase of 147 / Photo: © AFP
Pant hits fifty as India 92-6 in chase of 147
Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten 53 as he nursed India to 92-6 at lunch on Sunday in their chase of 147 to deny New Zealand a 3-0 Test series sweep.
India need 55 more runs and New Zealand four wickets as the game remained in the balance on day three at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Wicketkeeper Pant and fellow left-hander Washington Sundar, on six, were batting at the break.
India bowled out New Zealand quickly for 174 in the first session, with Ravindra Jadeja taking five wickets on a turning wicket.
But the New Zealand bowlers led by Ajaz Patel ripped into India's top order.
Fast bowler Matt Henry dismissed Rohit Sharma in the third over, getting the captain to mis-hit to Glenn Phillips at midwicket for 11.
Mumbai-born New Zealander Ajaz bowled Shubman Gill and then had Virat Kohli, on one, caught by Daryl Mitchell at slip to silence the home crowd.
Wickets kept tumbling as Phillips trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw for five, and two balls later Sarfaraz Khan was caught in the deep off Ajaz, leaving India in deep trouble at 29-5.
Pant put on 42 runs for the sixth wicket to revive the chase, but Ajaz struck again to remove Ravindra Jadeja for six.
New Zealand's second innings was over seven minutes after the start of Sunday's play.
Resuming on 171-, Ajaz was caught at deep mid-wicket off a slog sweep as left-arm spinner Jadeja ended with a match haul of 10 wickets.
D. Barbosa--JDB
