NZ in box seat after Henry, O'Rourke skittle India out for 46

A dogged half-century from Devon Conway (91) complemented New Zealand's excellent bowling display led by Matt Henry (5-15) and William ORourke (4-22) as the visitors bossed the second day of the first Test against India in Bengaluru. The tempo was set by the pacers as Rohit Sharma's decision to bat at the toss backfired. Overhead conditions and a damp surface were the ideal foil for the Black Caps pacers who felt at ease as they exploited the conditions to good effect. The initial 30 minutes were frustrating for the visitors as they beat the bat regularly but weren't rewarded with a wicket.

Eventually, Tim Southee broke through with a cracking nipbacker to castle Rohit Sharma and it started a procession that never stopped for India. O'Rourke then took over along with Henry to make a mockery of India's batters. The former, fresh off an impressive series in Sri Lanka, relished the favourable conditions on offer to nip out Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan for ducks. Kohli, who moved up to No.3, fell to a lifter that he gloved to leg slip, Sarfaraz was guilty of a poor shot that was brilliantly taken one-handed by Conway at mid-off.

New Zealand's catching was arguably as good as their seam bowling, if not better and that is saying something, given what the quicks dished out. KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin all registered ducks with the ball continuing to nip around appreciably. Rishabh Pant led a charmed life and was also dropped once before he eventually ran out of luck. Henry and O'Rourke ensured that India's trademark lower order defiance in home conditions never came to the fore as they sliced through the batting line-up. It's another matter, though, that the conditions were anything but 'home' like.

Once the bowlers put New Zealand in pole position, it was over to Conway who dominated the scoring, even if he wasn't always at his fluent best. The left-hander struggled against Jasprit Bumrah's new ball spell but found ways to hang in there. Skipper Tom Latham ironically looked much more compact but wasn't able to score as fluently as Conway who was severe on the spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin. As the sun came out, batting looked relatively easier although the quicks still had some help on offer. What was encouraging for India is that their spinners were also able to get some purchase.

Unfortunately for the home side, their mediocre batting effort,