New Zealand quickly into the lead after skittling India for 46

Tea New Zealand 82 for 1 (Conway 61*, Young 5*) lead India 46 (Pant 20, Henry 5-15, O'Rourke 4-22) by 36 runs

It was well worth the wait for New Zealand. On their seventh day of Test cricket in India this year, New Zealand finally got on the field, on day two in Bengaluru, and lost a good toss. Once they were denied their wish to bat first under overcast skies, on a pitch was covered all week, New Zealand's seam bowlers were all over India with deadly accurate bowling, bowling them out for 46, their lowest score at home and third-lowest overall.

This was the fourth-lowest first-innings score in Test history after a side had chosen to bat. By tea, New Zealand had already gone well into lead with nine wickets in hand.

There is a good chance both sides misread the conditions. India themselves won the toss, picked three spinners and batted first, relying more on the dry nature of the pitch rather than the overcast conditions and the sweating on the pitch under the covers in the lead-up to the Test. New Zealand had hedged their bets: even though they wanted to bat first, they played three seamers, including the king of these conditions, Matt Henry, who ended up with a five-for that took him to 100 Test wickets.

It was apparent as early as the first two overs that the ball was moving more than either of the sides expected. New Zealand started off with just the two slips but reinforced in the conditions. India were now reacting instinctively and not via pre-series mental preparation as they showed in challenging conditions in England in 2021.

And the instinct was to counterattack. Jaiswal played the first loose drive to just the 12th ball he faced even while Tim Southee had been challenging him. Rohit Sharma survived an extremely close lbw shout off Henry on umpire's call but soon tried to charge Southee and loft him back over his head. The wobble-seam ball jagged back in to take the top of leg.

With Shubman Gill missing because of a stiff neck, Virat Kohli moved up to No. 3 for the first time since 2016. While it was brave of Kohli to move up, the batter perhaps best suited to seaming conditions is the current No. 6, KL Rahul, who is the only Asian opener with centuries in Australia, England and South Africa.

As it turned out, Kohli didn't get a chance to make a mistake or show application as the ninth ball he faced jagged back in and kicked at him thanks to Will O'Rourke's height. Glenn Phillips at leg slip took the catch off the glove diving forward, his presence there suggesting a plan.

Another batting-order surprise followed as Sarfaraz Khan walked in at No. 4, at least one slot higher than the one he takes in domestic cricket. It took him just three balls to attempt an aerial drive on the up, shanking it for a sensational catch by Devon Conway at mid-off, diving to his right and taking it well behind his body. A just reward for Henry, who drew an average seam movement of 1.3 degrees in the first session.

Rain brought a brief halt at 13 for 3 in 12.4 overs without a single boundary. India were in control of just 62% of the deliveries faced at this point. The bowling was ruthless: about half of them on the good length, only a few going fuller without becoming half-volleys.

In theory, a break should be good news for the bowling side as their bowlers can be ready for more spells but here they ran out of some of the awesome luck they had been enjoying. Tom Blundell dropped a sitter from Rishabh Pant, and then the batters either played or missed or the edges flew wide of the fielders. The bowling also lost a bit of the relentlessness. But for this brief period, India's 36 all out was under threat.

Eventually the fourth wicket came not off testing deliveries, but a middled cut shot by Jaiswal, who fell for 13 off 63, out of which he was in control of just 42. The luck had turned, and a flurry of wickets followed either side of lunch. Rahul nicked O'Rourke down the leg side six minutes before lunch, and Ravindra Jadeja followed with an extravagant flick that produced a leading edge to what proved to be the last ball of the session.

Henry produced a snorter immediately after lunch, taking the shoulder of R Ashwin's bat from a good length. Pant survived the hat-trick ball, but two balls later he nicked Henry to second slip. Again Henry was on a good length and managed to draw seam movement.

Henry wasn't done yet, though. He put in a full-speed sprint to his left from fine leg to give Will O'Rourke his fourth wicket, Jasprit Bumrah not fancying hanging around after one kicked at him and hit him. Henry had substitute Michael Bracewell to thank for completing his five-for as Michael Bracewell dived to his left at gully to get Kuldeep's wicket.

It was the perfect storm for India. The sun was out as they came out to bowl, and they had only two quicks to work with. The movement was less pronounced, and New Zealand had the freedom to take chances. Every now and then, Bumrah went full, but less movement than in the morning meant he was driven away by Conway. Spin came on in the eighth over, and Conway immediately attacked Ashwin, lofting him down the ground and employing both kinds of sweep.

In his second spell, Mohammed Siraj drew the edge from Tom Latham, but Rahul lost the ball completely at second slip. The consequent boundary took New Zealand past India's score. Ten minutes before tea, Kuldeep got Latham out lbw, but Conway and Tom Young looked comfortable at the break.