NZ fail to put their best foot forward

With six lbw dismissals cluttering up their scorecard, New Zealand's batsmen clearly didn't put their best foot forward in the first Test against India.

India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja frequently beat the bats and hit the pads of the New Zealand batsmen on day three in Kanpur, the hosts coming close to equalling the record of seven lbw dismissals in a Test innings.

The record of seven - jointly held by England against Zimbabwe at Chester-le-Street in 2003 and Australia against New Zealand at Jade Stadium in 2005 - came under threat when Jadeja trapped a Kiwi batsman in front four times in the innings.

Jadeja said the lbws was a result of a pitch where the odd ball spun viciously while others went straight.

"Batsmen who are not familiar with Indian or Asian conditions often cannot make up their mind which ball to defend and which one to attack," Jadeja said.

"By the time they got a hang of it, they had lost six-seven wickets."

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Wicketkeeper BJ Watling was one of the few Black Caps batsmen not to perish LBW and conceded the pitch at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium had his team guessing.

"Sometimes the ball spins here and sometimes it doesn't," he said.

"It's about the lines we play and we're working on that every day, trying to figure it out."

While the Kiwis prepared to tackle the spin, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor and Ish Sodhi were trapped lbw by deliveries that did not really turn.

A couple of leg-before decisions - especially those of Luke Ronchi and Ish Sodhi - were debatable but Watling was not complaining about the umpires.

"They have to make a call. It's the game of cricket, if they think it is out, it is out," he said.

India had moved to 4-252 in their second innings at lunch on day four, a lead of 308, and the home side's spinners are sure to hone in on NZ's pads again when their run chase gets underway.