Hamish Rutherford (18) and Kane Williamson (four) negotiate the remaining overs and New Zealand ending Day Two on 24 for one, still 222 runs behind the Indian first innings score. They have a mountain to climb.

Tomorrow will be a crucial day, probably the last of the match. Till then, adios amigos

Trailing by 246 runs, New Zealand has no alternative but to bat well. 

Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford come out to bat. And it will be Ishant Sharma first up for India. He gives away a single. 

Zaheer to bowl the second over. He strikes with his second ball, trapping Fulton (1) plumb in front.

Kane Williamson comes in earlier than he would have liked. Mohammad Shami is also introduced into the attack early, replacing Ishant in the fifth over.

Rahane's has been a brilliant innings and it takes an equally brilliant catch by Trent Boult to send him back to the pavilion, Southee being the beneficiary. 

Rahane's 158-ball knock (118) was inclusive of 17 boundaries and a six. 

Zaheer hits a couple of boundaries off Southee in the same over and another off Wagner. However, his extravagance costs him his wicket, Wagner having Zaheer (22) caught behind.

India is finally bowled out for 438, for a first innings lead of 236. 

Wagner returns to have Ravindra Jadeja (26) caught by Peter Fulton at first slip. India lose their eighth wicket at 385.  

Zaheer Khan is the new bat. He starts off with an edgy boundary. Another boundary off Wagner, by Rahane, helps take the Indian lead past the 200-run mark. The visitors soon get past the 400-run mark. 

A boundary off Anderson helps Rahane complete his maiden Test hundred. What a knock it has been. He celebrates the same with another couple of boundaries in the same over.

Again when  things looked settled for India they have lost a wicket, against the run of play. 

It is the captain this time. Trent Boult produces a beauty to have Dhoni caught behind. It is his third wicket of the innings.

Dhoni's 86-ball 68 was inclusive of nine boundaries and a six and he helped Rahane add 120 runs for the seventh wicket. 

Ravindra Jadeja comes in to bat and starts off with a boundary, the shot also helping India get past the 350-run mark. 

Dhoni continues with his aggression in the final session. 

He smashes a boundary of Boult and follows it up with a six off Southee, soon completing his 29th Test fifty with a single off the latter. 

Another couple of boundaries by him, off Southee, followed by a single helped raise the 100-run partnership for the seventh wicket. 

Rahane also gets into the act with back-to-back boundaries off Boult.

The second new ball has been taken in the 81st over. Trent Boult to bowl. Dhoni smashes the fifth ball to the fence as seven runs come off the first over. 

Tim Southee to bowl the second over. However, he too fails to make the breakthrough. A single by Rahane in his second over helps India get to the 300-run mark.

The second session has been entirely India's, the visitors having scored 100 runs at the cost of Kohli's wicket. 

India have extended their lead to 109, with four of their wickets still in tact. 

At tea, Rahane is batting on 64 and Dhoni on 39, the two having added 73 runs for the seventh wicket.

Dhoni's strategy seems simple. He wants to attack the old ball and consolidate India's advantage before the new ball is taken. 

Rahane, meanwhile, has quite moved onto the 40s. The 25-year-old soon completes his third Test fifty with a single off Neesham. It has been a measured knock.

The above single also brings about the 50-run partnership for the seventh wicket. 

It's Neil Wagner again who provides New Zealand the breakthrough they so desperately needed, having Kohli (38) caught by Hamish Rutherford at mid-off. 

Kohli and Rahane had added 63 runs for the sixth wicket and India's best batsman was dismissed just when India were looking to take the game away from the home team. 

MS Dhoni is the new batsman. He begins confidently, hitting four successive boundaries off Wagner, the last of them helping India get past the 250-run mark.

Anderson starts the second session with a wide. A single by Kohli, off Neesham, helps raise the 50-run partnership for the sixth wicket. 

These two batsmen have done well to wrest the initiative back from New Zealand. The pitch has also eased out considerably. 

India are looking set for a big first innings lead here.

Rohit Sharma plays on to give Jimmy Neesham his first Test wicket. Rohit doesn't bother the scorers.

Ajinkya Rahane is the new batsman at the crease. He gets off the mark with a beautiful straight drive off Neesham.

The ball is changed in the 51st over. Trent Boult to bowl. Three runs off Boult, by Rahane, in the 53rd over helps India take the lead. 

India have a lead of nine runs at lunch, having scored 101 runs at the cost of three wickets. 

Virat Kohli is the new batsman at the crease. A boundary off Southee takes Dhawan into the nineties.

Another boundary off Southee takes him to 98. However, the bowler ensures Dhawan doesn't get his hundred by having him caught behind in the same over. 

Dhawan's 127-ball innings was inclusive of 14 boundaries and a six. 

Rohit Sharma joins Kohli at the crease.

Batting has become a lot more comfortable on this wicket. Even Ishant has hit three boundaries so far, two in a Trent Boult over. 

With Tim Southee and Boult failing to provide the breakthrough, Brendon McCullum has been forced to introduce Corey Anderson as early as the 36th over, the eighth of the day. Dhawan welcomes him with a boundary.

Another boundary off Boult, Ishant's fourth, helps raise the 50-run partnership for the third wicket. This is a bonus for India. However, Boult has the last laugh, having Ishant (26) caught behind. 

Good morning and welcome to the second day's coverage of the second and final Test between New Zealand and India. 

The visitors, having dominated the opening day, have started day two on a good note. 

Resuming at their overnight score of 100 for two, the two batsmen are still there. 

Shikhara Dhwan is on 79 and Ishant Sharma on eight.