Nagpur, Nov 20: India got off to a terrific start on day one of the Nagpur Test against a New Zealand side that had shown terrific spirit in the first two Tests of the three match series. After a wet outfield had delayed the start of play in the morning the Indian bowlers struck repeatedly to leave the Kiwis in all kinds of trouble at 148 for 7

Earlier, Daniel Vettori won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat first, a decision that would have India batting last on the wicket. New Zealand made one change to their squad with left-arm seamer Andy McKay making his Test debut in place of Brent Arnel, while Ishant Sharma made a return to the Indian playing eleven in place of the injured Zaheer Khan.

Martin Guptill found himself promoted to open the innings with Tim McIntosh after Brendon McCullum injured himself during the warm-up routine before the start of play. But Guptill couldn’t do much in his new role as he edged a peach of a delivery from S Sreesanth to MS Dhoni after having made just six runs. Sreesanth struck again, in his very next over, knocking off Tim McIntosh’s off-stump with a delivery that came in to the left-hander after pitching. New Zealand were 16 for 2 at this stage.

It was then Ishant Sharma’s turn to get into the act and the lanky paceman got rid of the dangerous Ross Taylor (trapped LBW for 20) and Daniel Vettori (bowled for 3). Between Sharma’s two wickets, Pragyan Ojha snared Kane Williamson into spooning a ball to Virender Sehwag at short cover and by the team New Zealand went into tea, half their side was already back in the pavilion at 72 for 5.

Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, who along with Vettori had come in ahead of the injured McCullum, fell shortly after tea, the ball taking the outside edge of his bat and falling into the Suresh Raina’s hands at second slip. Hopkins (7) was Ojha’s second wicket.

What followed was a brief partnership for New Zealand, with the injured McCullum finally joining Jesse Ryder out in the middle. The duo put on 42 runs for the seventh wicket, with Ryder posting yet another half-century on this tour. But just when they were looking to rescue New Zealand from their dismal state, Ryder gave Harbhajan Singh his first wicket of the match by inside edging a delivery and Raina, standing once again at second slip, completed a sharp catch. McCullum, New Zealand’s only hope, remained unbeaten at stumps with 34 runs to his credit.

Brief Score – New Zealand 1st innings 148 for 7 (Jesse Ryder 59, Brendon McCullum 34*, S Sreesanth 2-20, Ishant Sharma 2-32).