Ryder and Williamson dominated on Day3

New Zealand 331 for 5 (Ryder 103, Williamson 87*, McCullum 65, Taylor 56) trail India 487 by 156 runs

Jesse Ryder, playing his first Test in 14 months, and Kane Williamson, playing his first Test, batted with the assurance of gnarled pros to help New Zealand clamber out of trouble to a position where they have an outside chance of a first-innings lead. The prospect of New Zealand being asked to bat again had loomed large at lunch, after they lost both Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor in the space of six runs when they were less than halfway to the follow-on mark.

The pair had just about survived a nervy six-over spell before lunch, but were more confident after the break - Williamson started the session with a lovely back-foot drive through cover. Both batsman were circumspect early on, with few attacking strokes against India's senior bowlers Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan. They started to be more enterprising once Sreesanth and the part-time spinners - Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina were brought on. Sreesanth nearly got the breakthrough when Ryder wafted at a wide delivery on 11, only for Rahul Dravid to fluff a shoulder-high chance at a wide first slip.

Ryder and Williamson put on 194 - New Zealand's second-highest stand for the fifth wicket - as India's bowlers toiled for more than two sessions without success. It was only in the final over of the day that India broke the stand. Two deliveries after Ryder brought up his third Test century - all of which have been against India - with a carve through cover, Sreesanth got one to nip past Ryder's bat and into the pad. By then, New Zealand had belied expectations that they would be rolled over by the world's No. 1 side.

Even before Ryder and Williamson came together, the New Zealand batsmen were comfortable against everything thrown at them by India. McCullum, needing to justify his place as a specialist batsman after giving up wicketkeeping gloves earlier this year, continued the form that has resulted in his most productive phase in Tests - two hundreds and three half-centuries in his previous six Tests.

@Cricket Buzz