India vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 4 at Eden Gardens – As it happened...

India win the three match Test series 2-0 with a game to spare.

New Delhi: Welcome to Coverage of the 2nd test between India and New Zealand from Day of of play at Eden Gardens.

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Cheteshwar Pujara named Man of the Match.

New Zealand 2nd Innings

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BREAKING: India guaranteed No.1 Test spot! - https://t.co/zVuj0hFyhh pic.twitter.com/ZP7vuDlaqN — ICC (@ICC) October 3, 2016

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Over 81.1 | Score 197 (Wagner 5*, Boult 4)

India have done it! Shami picks up his 3rd as India clinch the three match Test series 2-0 with a game to spare.

TA Boult c Vijay b Mohammed Shami 4 (14b)

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Over 78 | Score 192/9 (Wagner 2*, Boult 2*)

Henry becomes Jadeja's latest target! Only Wagner and Boult remain in India's way of claiming the match and series.

MJ Henry c Kohli b Jadeja 18 (44b)

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Over 75 | Score 190/8 (Henry 18*,  Wagner 2*)

New Zealand tail-enders holding on at the fag end of the day. India trying to wrap up the match today itself. Will there be play on Day 5?

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Over 69 | Score 182/8 (Henry 12*,  Wagner 0*)

Jeetan Patel fails to reproduce his first innings heroics. Bhuvi quickly strikes to claim New Zealand's 8th wicket.

L Ronchi b Jadeja 32 (60b)

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Over 67 | Score 178/7 (Henry 8*,  Patel 2*)

Jadeja brought back into the attack and he quickly rewards India with another New Zealand wicket. India looking to wrap-up the match by the end of day.
STAT- Ronchi has been out to Jadeja for the fourth time in four innings. 

L Ronchi b Jadeja 32 (60b)

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Over 61 | Score 156/6 (Ronchi 20*, Henry 0*)

Shami gets his second! The earlier sessions might have belonged to spinners but seamers are showing their mettle now. India 4 wickets away from victory.

BJ Watling b Mohammed Shami 1 (8b)

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Over 59 | Score 154/5 (Ronchi 19*, Watling 0*)

Shami strikes! Santner LBW as ball strikes in front of off & middle and beats the inside edge of his defensive shot. Kiwis in trouble after an initial resilience. 

MJ Santner lbw b Mohammed Shami 9 (20b​)

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Over 54 | Score 141/4 (Ronchi 15*, Santner 0*)

WICKET! The dangerous Latham is the latest victim to Ashwin's trickery. New Zealand 4 down with majority of the 3rd session yet to be played.

TWM Latham c †Saha b Ashwin 74 (148b)

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Final session of the day is underway!

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Over 52 | Score 135/3 (Latham 74*, Taylor 9)

Second session of the day comes to an end! Tom Latham not out at 74. Luke Ronchi at 9. India will look to clinch a couple of more wickets in the final session of play today.

Here's the session summary at Tea on Day 4. #NZ are 135-3 @Paytm Test Cricket #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/CGkgGHCgmD — BCCI (@BCCI) October 3, 2016

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Over 43 | Score 115/3 (Latham 63*, Taylor 4)

New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor departs as Latham finds himself fighting as a lone warrior in the middle.

LRPL Taylor lbw b Ashwin 4 (28b)

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Over 40 | Score 113/2 (Latham 62*, Taylor 3*)

Big appeal for lbw by Jadeja turned down by Rod Tucker, who also warns him for running across the pitch. Latham survives this one!

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Over 36 | Score 104/2 (Latham 56*, Taylor 0*)

Nicholls heads back to pavilion as Jadeja picks up his 1st wicket of the day. The ball pitched in front of the stumps Nicholls couldn't cover the lack of turn, gets an outside edge that flies to Rahane at slip. Ross Taylor walks in!

HM Nicholls c Rahane b Jadeja 24 (66b)

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Over 32 | Score 96/1 (Latham 50*, Nicholls 22*)

50 for Latham, first for any Kiwi batsman in this test. India meanwhile, unable to build pressure on the opposition as New Zealand players remain untroubled.

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Over 25 | Score 72/1 (Latham 35*, Nicholls 13*)

India came close to getting another wicket on one or two occasions, but luck wasn't in the bowler's favour. New Zealand continue to progress in second session without much trouble from the Indians.

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Over 17 | Score 55/1 (Latham 32*, Nicholls 7*)

WICKET! Soon 4 balls after the Lunch break, R Ashwin strikes and gets the wicket of Martin Guptil, who was trapped in front of the stumps. India get their first breakthrough.

MJ Guptill lbw b Ashwin 24 (49b)

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Over 16 | Score 55/0 (Latham 31*, Guptil 24*)

Not the ideal session for India, who would have wanted to pick up at least one wicket before LUNCH. Though, India came close to achieving their target when Shami had almost got the better of Guptil, New Zealand take this session.

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Over 13 | Score 44/0 (Latham 25*, Guptil 19*)

Shami unlucky to still stand wicketless, after umpire somehow didn't give Guptil a sure shot LBW. Kohli, too had an argument with the umpire for his blatant error.
Barring the poor decision, Kiwis going strong early on Day 4.

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Over 5 | Score 7/0 (Latham 6*, Guptil 1*)

Patience play from Kiwis batsmen as the elusive chase of 364 runs begins.

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India 2nd Innings

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Over 76.5 | Score 263 (Saha 58*, Shami 1)

That's that for Indian batsmen at Eden Gardens this series. New Zealand need 376 runs to win this match and level the series 1-1.

Mohammed Shami c Latham b Boult 1 (7b)

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Over 74 | Score 251/9 (Saha 48*, Shami 0*)

Bhuvneshwar's brave inning comes to an end as Wagner picks up his 99th wicket of the Test career. Lead 363 runs.

B Kumar c Nicholls b Wagner 23 (51b)

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Over 70 | Score 249/8 (Saha 48*, Bhuvneshwar 21*)

India's lead stands at 360 as Saha and Bhuvneshwar start-off Day 4 in impressive fashion.

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Wriddhiman Saha & Bhuvneshwar Kumar start action on Day 4 of the 2nd Test. Stay tuned!

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India will be looking to gather some quick runs early on Day 4 and then hand over the bat to New Zealand aiming to wrap-up the test match today itself.

Following Rohit Sharma's hugely impressive 82-run knock at his favorite hunting ground, Eden Gardens, India sit in pole position with a 339-run lead before the start of play on 4th day.

Sharma, who had faltered to perform in the first innings of the test, was only the 4th Indian batsmen to get into double figures in 2nd innings – Shikhar Dhawan (17), Virat Kohli (45), Wriddhiman Saha (39*) were the others. (READ: India vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 3 — As it happened...)

Rohit's knock of 82 off 132 balls is his highest Test score under current skipper Virat Kohli. This was his highest score - third fifty - vs New Zealand in Tests. His previous highest vs New Zealand was 72 at Auckland in February 2014 - his another fifty against them being 68 not out at Kanpur in September 2016.

Wriddhiman Saha (39) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8) were at the crease when play ended for the day.

At Stumps on Day 3 #TeamIndia are 227/8. Take a look at the Match Summary here #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/oaQR1pSavM — BCCI (@BCCI) October 2, 2016

Bhuvneshwar, who picked up a fifer in first innings, will be eager to take the ball in his hand once again and make use of the tricky 4th day wicket to unsettle the Kiwi batsmen quickly.

The Indian tail's strategy will be to get a 350-run lead without wasting time and give their bowlers a platform to test the New Zealand batsmen's grit against the new ball on a tricky wicket.

For sure, the treacherous surface, with variable bounce to negotiate will be one hell of a challenge for batsmen to deal with.

Provided the weather gods show minimum interruption, Indian bowlers can use the conditions and the new ball to great effect, the match could well be over on Monday.

India lead the three-match series 1-0 after their 197-run win in the Kanpur Test.