Williamson and Latham keep India at bay

Showing steely resolve and solid defence, Williamson (66) and opener Latham (56) added 117 runs for the unbeaten second wicket, narrowing the defict to 166 after India folded for 318 in the morning session.

Paceman Umesh Yadav is the only bowler to get success with the wicket of Martin Guptill in the opening session.

Williamson took 115 balls for his 66, that had seven boundaries in it while southpaw Latham has faced 137 balls so far and helped himself with five shots to the fence.

The sun shone bright in the first session but grey clouds started to hover above towards the end of the post-lunch session and the moment tea was taken, light drizzle started.

The umpires asked groundsmen to cover the pitch and the field.

Williamson and Latham were hardly troubled by either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja as the Green Park pitch did not offer much assistance to the spinners.

Except for the last few overs, the two Kiwi batsmen remained untroubled even as they survived two incidents where they almost lost their wickets.

Williamson swept Ashwin often and also stayed on the backfoot, waiting for the balls to decide his stroke. Latham also remained solid against both the spinners and pacers.

The visiting captain survived when he tried to sweep Ashwin. He missed the ball that hit him on the back of the helmet, taking off the flap, which hit the stumps but bails were not dislodged.

It happened in the 32nd over when Williamson was on his individual score of 39.

With strike bowlers not making any impact, Kohli asked part-timer Murali Vijay to bowl his off-breaks. He almost got Latham on a full toss, which the batsman missed. The ball struck the pads, but the umpire shot down the vociferous appeal for LBW.

This was after Vijay beat both the left-handed batsmen and wicker-keeper Wriddhiman Saha with a turning ball to concede four byes.