First Test, Wellington, day two (stumps)
New Zealand 201-7 v India 161

New Zealand's aim of batting India out of the first Test was hit by three quick wickets late on a rain-hit day two at the Basin Reserve.

At stumps the home side were 201 for seven - a lead of 40 - with three wickets remaining, after they bowled the visitors out for 161 on the first day.

Opening batsman Mark Richardson was on 83 not out, while tailender Daniel Vettori was yet to score.

Rain and a damp outfield delayed the start of play by 4 1/2 hours and only 56 overs of play were possible.

Richardson hit 10 fours and shared half-century stands with skipper Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.

But the introduction of off-spinner Harbhajan Singh brought three wickets for just five runs.

Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan started the collapse when he had Astle fending to a rising delivery and spooning the ball to Harbhajan at point for a hard-hit 41.

Scott Styris came down the pitch to Harbhajan in the next over and was smartly stumped by Parthiv Patel.

And debutant Jacob Oram was then given out lbw to Harbhajan without scoring.

It could have been even worse for the home side had Richardson not been dropped when he had reached 63.

The left-hander lost wicket-keeper Robbie Hart lbw to Zaheer for six in the day's penultimate over.

He stood firm, though to reach the close with the chance to record his third Test century on day three.

Two men were arrested and charged with vandalism and trespassing after trying to paint an anti-war slogan on the field overnight.

The men were apprehended at around 2am local time, after had used petrol to burn the letters "NO WAR" in the grass behind the bowler's run up.

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New Zealand Stephen Fleming (capt), Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Robbie Hart, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey.

India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sanjay Bangar, Virendra Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka)

TV umpire: Billy Bowden

Match referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa)