India are edging closer to victory in the second Test in Wellington, as New Zealand struggled to eat into the tourists' healthy first-innings advantage, losing lost three wickets before lunch.

With the hosts starting the morning session on 24-1 – a deficit of 222 – Zaheer Khan (3-28) took the wickets of Kane Williamson (7) and Hamish Rutherford (35) in the first hour, leaving the Kiwis reeling and needing to pile on big runs in order to force a result.

Debutant Tom Latham tried to fight back with 29 off 64 balls before falling to Mohammed Shami, while captain Brendan McCullum (14 off 59) struggled to score runs early in his innings despite getting through the session unbeaten.

However, the hosts trailed by 158 at lunch with only six second-innings wickets intact, as India largely limited scoring opportunities and reduced New Zealand to 87-4.

New Zealand won the first Test in Auckland last week.