New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson said that the Indian batsmen going for their shots on the opening day of the second Test helped the hosts stay in the game.

The 6ft 8 inches Jamieson registered his maiden five-wicket haul in only his second Test and his spell post tea was the reason behind India’s below-par score of 242 all out.

“They played a few more shots than what they did in Wellington. I think the pitch probably allowed them to as well.

“While it was still value for shots here, it probably kept us in the game as well, the way the ball was moving around,” Jamieson said after the first day’s play.

From 194 for four with a standard first innings total of 350 looking imminent, India lost five wickets for 22 runs in a period of six overs and it could well have a decisive impact in the final outcome of the contest.

Jamieson, in his post-tea spell, got rid of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and Umesh Yadav in quick succession as India lost a golden opportunity to press home the advantage. The 32 boundaries and three sixes with a run-rate of 3.84 in 63 overs will not be able to tell the story how the Indians fluffed their lines during the day.

The surface at the Hagley Oval turned out better for strokeplay and that is why it took some time for the bowlers to hit the right length.

“I guess your margin for where you’re trying to land the ball probably gets a little bit smaller. And they did well I think,” Jamieson said in praise of the Indian batsmen.

“When we overpitched, they put it away, and if we were wide, they put that away… So look, it was just about trying to hang in there, and I think as a collective we managed to do that, and had a pretty good day.”

The likes of Trent Boult (2/89) and Colin de Grandhomme (0/31) were guilty of over-pitching in trying to get some swing and had it not been for some reckless batting from the Indians, the hosts could have ended the day on the backfoot.

The second and third day will be better for batting, reckoned Jamieson.

“In saying that, it’s still pretty similar around days two and three where you still get value for your shots and it will probably flatten out a little bit.”

“I guess that means that the first session on the second day becomes really crucial. The way both Toms (Latham and Blundell) got through at the fag end of Day I, it was massive for us, being none down, and hopefully they can start in a similar way on Day II and set up the game for us.”

The pitch is set to be good for the batsmen on Days II and III. So for Virat Kohli and his men, the catch-up game starts from the second day itself as the ignominy of a 0-2 series loss looms large.