They were a wicket or two further down than they would have wanted, but Mark Richardson was 67 not out and Nathan Astle 22 not out as New Zealand looked to resurrect their effort to gain a sizeable first innings advantage. They were 149/3.

Fleming departed for 25, bowled by Zaheer Khan when driving at a ball which clipped the top of his back pad and cannoned into the stumps. New Zealand were 96/2.

Craig McMillan, promoted to bat at No 4, clipped a ball to fine leg and ran a quick two to bring up the side's 100, after 216 minutes batting.

Mark Richardson moved to 56 with a sweetly-timed shot off his hip for three, a shot which suggested greater plunder was not too far away.

However, Sanjay Bangar put a spoke in the works when claiming McMillan's wicket. McMillan batted aggressively once coming out and at one stage after a cover-drive which pulled up just inside the boundary he ran four. However, he took on Harbhajan Singh's arm and was forced to dive for his ground.

Had the throw been direct to the stumps, he could have been severely embarrassed.

But a lack of superstition in McMillan's make-up left him vulnerable when he was on nine. He failed to connect with a ball from Bangar and was given out leg before wicket. New Zealand were 111/3, on Black Friday, a score to be avoided.

Nathan Astle joined Richardson and the scoring slowed a little as they attempted to regain the initiative although Astle did show some of his renowned power hitting when scoring his first boundary with a slash over cover from Bangar's bowling.

Richardson offered one chance, when on 63. But second slip V V S Laxman was unable to grasp the chance low down to his right. New Zealand were 133/3 at that stage.

He responded by hitting the next ball for one of his trademark off-drives. It produced one of the more humorous moments of the match. After the overnight rain, several shots today have pulled up just short of the boundary, and Richardson thought the same had happened to him.

He played a lovely five-iron shot but lost the grip on his bat and the ball flew high in the air behind the bowling end stumps.

They were only required to play 13 overs before taking afternoon tea and had reached 92/1 by the break.

Mark Richardson was 49 not out and Stephen Fleming 25 not out.

A total of 55 overs are required to be bowled in the day.

Having waited a seeming eternity to get on the ground while overhead conditions were perfect, the New Zealanders settled in on a pitch with less sideways movement than on the first day, courtesy of the pitch baking in the sun.

Mark Richardson took advantage of a wide ball from Zaheer Khan in his first over and clubbed it through point for the first boundary of the day.

Ashish Nehra changed ends to bowl with the wind but he found Stephen Fleming freeing up a little. The New Zealand captain cut a ball wide of second slip for a boundary and then followed that with a slightly squarer shot past gully for another boundary. When he then cover drove a ball for two, he brought up the 50-run stand off 105 balls - it was the first half-century partnership in the match.

The two New Zealanders just eliminated the chance of risk by not playing any false shots.

According to reports, both teams want to play but the umpires are concerned about the run-up at the southern end of the ground.

The ground was soaked overnight and while the weather cleared a mid-morning shower undid much of the drying.

The pitch itself is dry, and having sat in the sun for much of the last three hours, it has lost much of the greeness that proved so testing for the Indian batsmen yesterday.

The problem is not one of the usual worries for the weather-plagued ground. Efforts have been made to improve the surface since the problems which threatened to take the ground off the international roster after the England Test last year.

Drainage is better and the covers now ensure the entire pitch block is covered but the problem has been at the southern end of the ground near the bowlers' run-up. A reasonable crowd has built up and as time goes by it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why play is not underway.

An attempt was made to burn an anti-war slogan into the outfield at the ground but security guards halted the attempt before it was completed.

There was no attempt to burn a message into the pitch which was extensively covered. Ground staff have painted over the slogan and it should be barely visible during the remainder of the match.

A delay has occurred to play after heavy overnight rain which continued again this morning. The howling nor-westers that have blown throughout the week have disappeared at just the time they would have been helpful in drying the ground.

No official statement has been made about a possible start time but local knowledge suggests it will be around 1pm today after the players take an early lunch.

Extensions are likely to be made to today's play and to tomorrow.

The Indian bowlers won't be minding the moisture that has been around as the lively pitch is likely to retain its qualities for another day while if the sun gets out and heats the ground there may be some useful swing as India attempt to get on top of New Zealand.

India scored 161 and New Zealand were 53/1 when bad light ended play nine overs early on the first day.