NZ 60/2 after 24 overs (Target: 139) And there is a definite gear change! Stand and deliver from Taylor over midwicket, followed by a cover drive. Those two fours sandwiched by a beauty from Ashwin that beats Taylor all ends up. But that’s a great over for NZ. Pressure definitely eases. India would have to think about defending now?

NZ 52/2 after 23 overs (Target: 139): Is that a signal of intent from NZ? Taylor is going for the shots. Shami offers width twice. One is a bump-ball to Jadeja that makes many think it’s a catch. Then cut away for four.

NZ have played 21 dots in a row. Time for a drinks break. Phew!

NZ 46/2 after 20 overs (Target: 139):

Perhaps time to keep an eye on the required rate too?

Ashish Magotra: New Zealand need 93 runs. They have 8 wickets in hand. 33 overs to get them in. But can you feel the tension? Test cricket, eh? Bloody hell.

NZ 46/2 after 20 overs (Target: 139): Shami and Ashwin are India’s best bets at the moment, it feels like. Shami keeping Williamson on his toes. Gripping stuff.

NZ 44/2 after 18 overs (Target: 139): Such high pressure and who do New Zealand have in the middle? Probably the most nerveless man in cricket right now. Williamson holds the key, to state the obvious perhaps. Another good over from Ashwin and the crowd are fully into this at the moment. Terrific stuff. 35 overs left today.

Over 17.2: WICKET! Ashwin. Left-hander. Wicket. AGAIN! What a bowler. This is a slider, it looks like. Going with the angle from around the wicket. Conway plays for the wrong line, given out LBW. Not reviewed after a long discussion. NZ 44/2.

NZ 42/1 after 16 overs (Target: 139): How does Williamson respond to that high adrenaline moment? A calm push through covers for three.

Screengrab courtesy: Hotstar

WILLIAMSON SAFE: Delight for Ashwin and Co as Williamson is given out LBW. The NZ captain went for a sweep, missed it. But the ball misses leg stump. Joy for India shortlived. A rare mishap for umpire Gough too in this match.

NZ 39/1 after 15 overs (Target: 139): The toil continues for Bumrah. Tries a bouncer, Conway dismisses it out of sight with ease for four. The pacer comes back well with a nasty rising good length delivery but those sort of moments have been few and far between for him.

Over 13.3: WICKET! Not dissimilar to the shot Latham played to send a leading edge looping over Ashwin a while back. He comes down the track again, trying to get to the pitch of the ball. But Ashwin shortens his length, the ball straightens away from Latham. Stumped. Ashwin’s love-affair with left-handers continues. Hope for India?

NZ 33/0 after 13 overs (Target: 139): Massive over for New Zealand as Bumra continues to struggle. Latham starts off with a drive on the up for three and Conway finishes it off an even better version for four. Super shot. There were four leg byes too in that over.

NZ 22/0 after 12 overs (Target: 139): Pant is taking over the audio feed as Ashwin finishes a second over, a maiden. Plenty of chirping! Good over too, kept Conway pinned. Hint of drift and turn from around the wicket a couple of times there.

NZ 21/0 after 10 overs (Target: 139): Latham almost gifted his wicket away off the last ball. Came down the track, got a leading edge that just cleared Ashwin. The off-spinner got him in the first innings too.

R Ashwin into the attack.

NZ 19/0 after 9 overs (Target: 139): Bumrah to start off the session for India. A bit of a surprise. One would have imagined Kohli would go with either Ishant or Shami.

Teams are back on the field and we are all set for the kind of last session that only Test cricket can throw up.

Some tea-time reading for you. (Or, perhaps, a distraction). One month to go for Tokyo 2020, folks.

TEA: NZ 19/0 after 8 overs (Target: 139)

Hoping for a miracle India fans?

TEA: NZ 19/0 after 8 overs (Target: 139)

As untroubled a phase of play as the NZ openers could have hoped for. A couple of oohs and aahs from India, but largely non-threatening. New Zealand sitting pretty, with history in sight. One more session to go!

NZ 19/0 after 7 overs (Target: 139): Four and beaten! Bumrah goes straight, Conway glances fine for four. The pacer comes back with a fine delivery to beat the batsman on the angle. Still, not much happening for the Indian bowlers. Not too threatening anyway.

NZ 14/0 after 6 overs (Target: 139): Well, the runs are indeed flowing. A terrific straight drive from Conway in Shami’s over. Definitely not the start India would have hoped for. This game could slip away quickly. And Kohli will hope Bumrah can find some form.

NZ 10/0 after 5 overs (Target: 139): The runs are flowing! Well, sort of. Still edgy cricket but five runs in that Ishant over.

NZ 5/0 after 4 overs (Target: 139): Kohli is conducting the crowd now, and they are responding. Good atmosphere but one that will become flat if the situation remains wicketless for a bit longer. Four leg byes in that over as Shami errs on his line.

NZ 1/0 after 3 overs (Target: 139): Another maiden over from Ishant, this time to Conway. Dinesh Karthik reckons India must take NZ to a point where they find it hard to believe they can do this. Reckon that can only happen with a few early wickets, saving runs is now perhaps not that useful for the Indian bowling attack.

NZ 1/0 after 2 overs (Target: 139): Nice rhythm from Shami, which is good to see. Starts off with a bouncer for Conway and then brings a couple back into Latham but left well on length. India not attacking the stumps early on, perhaps mindful of getting hit for runs too soon.

If you are looking for some hope, India fans.

Shami from the other end. Not Bumrah, not Ashwin. Expectedly, given how well he bowled in the first innings.

NZ 0/0 after 1 over (Target: 139): A probing first over from Ishant to Latham. As expected plenty of chirping to start with from the Indian camp.

Ishant Sharma will start. Around the wicket to Tom Latham.

Indian players in a huddle. This team has shown in the past they can come back from near improbable situations. Will this be one hurdle too difficult?

Ind 170 all out after 73 overs: WICKET! Bumrah gone for a duck as Southee gets another wicket. NZ need 139 to win the ICC World Test Championship and they have 53 overs to get them. A stunning bowling effort by the Kiwis again.

Ind 170/9 after 72.2 overs: WICKET! Latham, at fly slip, takes the catch, Shami (13) goes. Southee gets another. They just moved the fielder then and it worked like a charm. Shami was trying to smash everything out of the park and this was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Ind 166/8 after 72 overs: India are 134 runs ahead. They need more. Plenty more but they are probably not going to get as much as they want.

Ind 164/8 after 71 overs: Two fours in the Southee over and both coming off Shami’s bat. The first was an authentic square cut and then a superb pull shout. Every run counts. India lead by 132 runs.

Ind 156/8 after 69.4 overs: WICKET! Ashwin edges that to the slips to end an edgy innings. Boult gets another one in the over. India are crumbling here. Played one too many shots. Not what India needed.

Ind 156/7 after 69.2 overs: WICKET! PANT! PANT PANT! He went for a big one, got the top edge and Henry Nicholls ran back a fair bit to take a superb catch. The catch of the summer given what is at stake. Pant made 41 and he seemed pissed after the dismissal. He should be. India lead by 124 runs.

Ind 156/6 after 69 overs: Southee into the attack as Wagner gets a break now. He has got a big wicket for them and now it is upto the others. If NZ get Pant, they will become huge favourites to win it all.

Ind 155/6 after 68 overs: Steady stuff from Jamieson who has bowled 24 overs for just 30 runs and taken two wickets too.

Ind 154/6 after 67 overs: Another ‘short’ over from Wagner. But not quite on target. Ashwin moving across his stumps to counter the ball bowled into the ribs. Needs to be careful of the match pitched up. Becomes an LBW candidate.

Ind 147/6 after 66 overs: Maiden over by Jamieson, a few plays and misses by Ashwin, who has looked slightly edgy.

Ind 147/6 after 65 overs: Wagner going after Ashwin with the short ball. Williamson has the field for it. Two fielders in the deep. Another one at short-leg and another at square leg. But Ashwin is trying to take on the short ball. An ego battle?

Ind 143/6 after 64 overs: Jamieson continues to keep things very tight from one end. Ashwin leaving the ball well.

Ind 142/6 after 62.5 overs: WICKET! Wagner’s short balls do the trick in another way. So far everything had been into ribs. Then, he finally pitched one up and outside the off-stump. Jadeja (16 off 49) couldn’t resist the temptation, poked at it and edged it to the keeper. India lead by 110 runs.

Ind 142/5 after 61 overs: Jamieson still looking to pitch it up but batting seems to be easier now. Pant and Jadeja are looking to make sure they keep the scoreboard ticking.

Ind 138/5 after 61 overs: Wagner in short-ball mode. Everything is short and into the ribs of the two left-handers.

Ind 137/5 after 60 overs: Nice battle on in the middle. The Kiwis are coming very hard at them. India aren’t holding back at all.

Ind 134/5 after 58 overs: Steady start to the session but for that Pant swipe. India look like they want to score runs.

Watling dislocated the ring finger in his right hander just before lunch but he continues to brave it out in the middle.

Ind 131/5 after 56 overs: Pant dances down the track to Jamieson after just one ball had been bowled in the session. This session might not be for the faint-hearted.

And we are back for the second session of the day. Will Pant and Jadeja stand firm? Will NZ get the wickets?

Ind 130/5 after 55 overs: And that is lunch. India have survived and but they will still want to be careful here. India lead by 98 runs. NZ have done well. We have 73 overs left in the day. This match is still very alive. NZ have the edge.

Ind 121/5 after 52 overs: Boult sent one onto Jadeja’s pads and he flicked it away for four. Immediately after the ball, Williamson removed one of the slips fielders and sent him into the outfield.

Ind 116/5 after 51 overs: Poor review by NZ against Pant. Wagner appealed for the LBW but it was clearly going down the leg-side.

Ind 109/5 after 50 overs: WICKET! Rahane (15 off 40) edges that down the leg-side. The worst way to go. Boult the bowler. India lead by 77 runs.

Ind 103/4 after 49 overs: Pant goes down the wicket to Wagner, gets the edge, goes past gully for four. Next ball, he tried the same thing and missed everything. The ball after that he was beaten all ends up while staying in his crease.

Ind 99/4 after 48 overs: Two runs from the Boult over, one play and miss and another where Rahane was clearly beaten.

Ind 97/4 after 47 overs: Maiden over by Wagner but an interesting battle developing between him and Pant. There seems to be a needle in the contest.

Ind 97/4 after 46 overs: Boult, like Bumrah for India, just hasn’t clicked in this match yet. The line, the length, the rhythm... it all seems to be lacking that little bit.

Double change. We have Boult from the other end. Two left-armers in operation for NZ

Ind 95/4 after 45 overs: Pant itching to start playing his shots. One, because he is comfortable doing that and two, because it might make the NZ bowlers bowl a little shorter. Came down the wicket and slammed Wagner down the ground. Three the kitchen sink at it.

Wagner into the attack now. A break for Southee.

Ind 89/4 after 44 overs: Jamieson with another maiden over after the break.

Ind 89/4 after 43 overs: Pant showing the right kind of intent. Just staying in the middle doesn’t mean much if you can’t score runs. He drives Southee down the ground for a four. Time for a drinks break.

Ind 85/4 after 42 overs: Maiden over by Jamieson. He is giving nothing away.

Ind 85/4 after 41 overs: A bit of a cat and mouse game in the middle between Pant and the Kiwi bowlers. The left-hander is trying to unsettle them. It hasn’t always worked though.

Ind 82/4 after 40 overs: DROPPED! Jamieson got the error from Pant but Southee at second slip fails to hold on to a regulation chance. Hit the hard part of the hands and popped out. Can Pant trust his defence or will he play his natural game? A big, big miss.

Ind 72/4 after 37.3 overs: WICKET! Jamieson again. This time Pujara (15 off 80) edges it to the slips. A nothing shot really.

Ind 72/3 after 37 overs: 30 minutes gone in the day and it has been a good 30 minutes for NZ. They have got the big wicket and with Rahane in the middle, they might be tempted to bring Wagner into the attack.

Ind 71/3 after 35.5 overs: WICKET! Jamieson continuing to impress. Got one to jag back into Kohli earlier in the over but the Indian skipper is standing way out of his crease to try and take the LBW out of the equation. A little later in the over, Kohli edges one through to the keeper. He pushed at the ball and is all the Kiwis needed. Loose shot. Soft dismissal and all that jazz. India in some trouble now. The pressure is on India.

Ind 71/2 after 35 overs: A maiden over by Southee. NZ putting a fielder in the short mid-on position, directly in front on Pujara.

Ind 71/2 after 34 overs: Another steady over by Jamieson, one run off it and we also had the first delivery to go past the bat today. Drew Kohli into the shot and beat the bat on the way to the keeper.

Ind 70/2 after 33 overs: Two runs from the Southee over. Kohli with a thickish edge past point. So far lesser movement available today for the seamers.

Ind 68/2 after 32 overs: No Boult from the other end. Williamson hands the ball over to Jamieson instead and he starts off with a maiden over.

Ind 68/2 after 31 overs: Southee, NZ’s best bowler yesterday, to start things off and he sent one onto Kohli’s legs and the Indian skipper clipped it away for three runs. Another single for Pujara off the last ball – clipped it but didn’t time it as well as Kohli. Important for India to scoring runs too. They don’t want to get into block mode.

The players are all set to take the field on a bright, sunny day. All results still possible.

A sight for sore eyes...

2.30 pm: Hello and welcome to live coverage of day six of the ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton.