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Then at 80/4, India were in deep doo (whats with SRT? and Pujara has to stop being a compulsive *** -- 3rd dismissal in 5 Tests; talk to Gavaskar mate), when NZ inexplicably bowled Jeetan Patel continuously at Raina.  Not bouncing him repeatedly with pace at both ends, or even at one end, but Patel and mostly stuff up to the bat.  Raina & Kohli pulled India out of the hole, with Raina playing some shots that shows why his talent as a stroke-maker knows no bounds, but also some wafts that make Indian fans despair about his ability to handle against anything not in his half of the pitch.  Yet NZ, persisted with spin and fairly nonthreatening pace.  He was lucky to have Patel bowl only the 3rd no ball of his career (in 15+ Tests) on a stumping, but was desperately unlucky to fall for the second time for a tickle down the leg side.

Kohli will get the kudos for his century, but to me the knock that put India back in the game for Dhoni's.  He bristled aggression and took the game away from NZ. But for Southee's inspirational spell on the 3rd morning, NZ would have faced a 50 run deficit.  Instead Southee was allowed to bowl at least two overs too many in a kind, but non-ruthless decision, to try for his 8th wicket -- not to mention he was completely knackered, and will this have an impact late on D4 as he tries to break India's 6th wicket partnership.  Boult probably bowled almost as well as Southee (IMO, he was better on D2, but Southee was amazing with the 2nd new ball) but had 1/90 to compare with 7/60.

NZ really should have got more than 232/9 on this non-crumbling beauty.  300 would have been par once the opening spell was blunted (Zaheer didn't bowl well at all), but 250-odd should favor India, even on a paceman's wicket.  

Normally 250 would be very very hard in Bangalore, but this is not a typical crumbling Indian beauty with uneven bounce.  Instead, it is more like an Australian wicket which plays pretty true on 4.  I would say 60-40 India at this point, with the new ball being the key.  If India get to lunch fewer than 3-down they will be favorites to win.  Unless Patel channels his inner Venkataraghavan, or Boult becomes as lucky as he has been luckless, India should win this one with 5 or 6 wickets in hand.  OTOH, India's tail starts at #9, so 7-down with more than 25 to go, will be a nail-biter.

Excellent Test after the T1 snooze-fest, but NZ probably didn't do enough to make this as tight as it could have been (NZ 250/7 at this stage would be evenly poised, IMO).

Bharat

I didn't mean to diss Kohli.  His was a most effective hundred.  This time Kohli looked in good nick (compared to Hyderabad, where he was quite scratchy) and after searching for an adjective, I've settled on "deliberate" -- his ton was among the most deliberate I have seen.  It wasn't pretty, nor was it gritty, it certainly wasn't spectacular or flashy, and nor was it dull.  It lacked the drama of Adelaide where he battled his inner demons.  It was non-fussy and effective -- "deliberate" is the word that comes to mind.

He just played and accumulated runs, and did so with a minimum of fuss.  Oh yes, there was the exquisite timing on the occasional flick, and the spectacular cover drive played as though it came to him by nature.  Nope, it wasn't particularly solid -- there were a number of play-and-misses (he does tend to push at the ball when the left hander comes over the wicket and angles it across).

But at a time when India needed runs, he just stayed there, played second fiddle to Raina and Dhoni, and simply kept out the bowlers and accumulated runs with no fuss.

Bharat