India teetering on 178-7 at tea chasing 359 for win over New Zealand

:India were in real danger of crashing to a humiliating series defeat at home as they limped to 178-7 at tea on day three of their second test against New Zealand while chasing 359, as Mitchell Santner claimed five wickets on Saturday.

Ravichandran Ashwin was batting on nine and Ravindra Jadeja was on four not out at the break, India still 181 runs away from their target after being outplayed completely.

Yashasvi Jaiswal went on the attack with some cracking shots to get India off to a rollicking start, but his dismissal for 77 by Santner and Rishabh Pant's run out for a duck after lunch left India in deep trouble at 127-4.

Santner, who had earlier removed Rohit Sharma for eight and Shubman Gill for 23, continued to torment India as the left-arm spinner trapped trump card Virat Kohli lbw for 17 and sent the alarms bells ringing in the home changing room.

Sarfaraz Khan was unable to recreate his batting heroics from the first match, perishing for nine after missing a low one from Santner to hand the bowler his fifth wicket.

The shoulders really dropped when Washington Sundar fell for 21 to Glenn Phillips late in the afternoon.

New Zealand were bowled out for 255 in their second innings after skipper Tom Latham's 86 and handy contributions lower down the order put them in a strong position to secure a first ever series victory in India.

India's highest successful run chase at home is the 387-4 they scored to beat England in Chennai in 2008 on a far better track than the one at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, where spinners have wreaked havoc.

The hosts are looking to avoid their first series defeat on home soil since losing to England in 2012, with their record of 18 successive home series wins since that 2-1 humbling