Kumar benefits from unexpected conditions

Indian pitches are usually tilted so heavily in favour of spinners that even New Zealand were caught by surprise when seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung it around during the second Test in Kolkata on Saturday.

Pencil-thin Kumar took advantage of overcast skies, seaming conditions and a pitch of variable bounce to grab 5-33 on the rain-shortened second day at the Eden Gardens.

Just 52.5 overs were bowled during the day in which the Black Caps stumbled to 7-128 in reply to India's 316, leaving Virat Kohli's home team well-placed to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Kumar, whose three previous five-wicket hauls had all been achieved abroad, said he was delighted to grab one on home soil.

"It was a dream, a secret ambition, to take five wickets in a home Test and I am glad I was able to do that today," said the 26-year-old, who replaced fast bowler Umesh Yadav for this match.

"In India you rarely get this kind of wicket and these kind of conditions, so it was important to grab the opportunity. It was a good day for me and the team."

Quick Single: Kumar's five leaves Black Caps reeling

In the morning, Kolkata-based Wriddhiman Saha delighted home fans by hitting an unbeaten 54 as India added another 77 runs to their overnight score of 7-239.

The pint-sized wicketkeeper smashed two sixes and seven boundaries in a heroic readguard action in which he put on 42 for the eighth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja and 35 for the 10th wicket with Mohammad Shami.

The innings added with a brilliant diving catch at deep fine-leg by Matt Henry, who flung himself to his right to hold the ball with two hands when Shami hooked Trent Boult.

Henry also led the way with the ball, picking up 3-46 while Trent Boult and Neil Wagner claimed two each.

With New Zealand's seamers sharing seven wickets, Kumar and his new-ball partner Shami were determined not to be left behind.

Shami began the rot by trapping Tom Latham leg-before in his first over, and Kumar bowled the struggling Martin Guptill before the lunch break.

New Zealand badly missed their captain and star batsman Kane Williamson, who was sidelined with viral fever, as the tourists slipped to 4-85 before rain halted play for more than two hours.

When play resumed after an early tea break, Kumar forced stand-in captain Ross Taylor (36) to edge a superb outswinger to first slip, before removing Mitchell Santner and Henry off successive balls.

Jeetan Patel narrowly survived the hat-trick ball and saw off the day with BJ Watling at the other end, with New Zealand still 188 runs behind with just three wickets in hand.

Luke Ronchi, who made 35 and shared a 62-run stand with Taylor, said the thin layer of grass on the wicket and the assistance it provided to the seamers, was unexpected.

"After what we got at Kanpur, a lot of us were quite surprised when we saw the grass on the wicket here," said Ronchi. "I guess a lot of people would not have expected the seam bowlers to take so many wickets.

"But that's Test cricket and you have to learn from it, play the right balls and do the right things to not get out. We have not done that as well as we could have."

Saha said he was confident the newly-laid Eden Gardens pitch will produce a positive result if rain did not interfere with play.

"It's a result-oriented wicket which is good for both teams," Saha said. "There was movement in the air and some balls stayed low while some had extra bounce and carry."