Hamilton, March 20: Sachin Tendulkar hammered his 42nd Test century to entrench India in a strong position on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park here on Friday.

With two days to go, the match is firmly in India’s grasp — the Kiwis were struggling at 75/3 in their second innings at close of play after conceding a 241-run lead.

It was Tendulkar’s show all the way. The Master, resuming at his overnight score of 70, drove on as the hosts ran out of gas. Unlike his stint on Thursday, the Mumbai batsman was flawless on Friday, middling the ball with precision as he accumulated runs at a fast clip.

The Indians came out firing in the first session and launched an all-out assault to demoralise their rivals. It did not matter that they lost Yuvraj Singh in the process.

Tendulkar batted with renewed vigour to be on top of his game. A couple of shots raced to the boundary and soon, he was into the 90s. He took a while to get off 99 though, and thrust his bat into the air as he raised his arms in triumph after sprinting a single that brought up his 42nd century in Test cricket. It was also his third century in the last four matches.

Having achieved the three-figure mark, Tendulkar shifted gear and began to whack the ball around. He cut Chris Martin to the point boundary; went down on his knee to sweep Daniel Vettori to the fence and then bent backwards to guide a rising delivery from Martin to third man for a single that signalled his 150.

However, a momentary lapse in concentration did the batting legend in. He tried to turn a high ball from Iain O’Brien outside the off-stump towards the on-side and ended up edging it to Ross Taylor at first slip to bring the curtains down on an opera that lasted six hours and 40 minutes and contained 26 hits to the fence.

Tendulkar rode the benefit of the doubt while on 133 though, when umpire Ian Gould turned down Vettori’s confident shout for LBW. Television replays showed the ball may have just clipped the leg-stump.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni started slowly, taking 30 balls to make just four runs, before he turned it on to slam seven boundaries. There was some drama when Jesse Ryder at point claimed Dhoni’s catch even as the ball hit the ground before it got stuck in his fingers. Dhoni stood his ground and the third umpire ruled him not out.

However, Dhoni walked even before the opposition had appealed when his attempted hook took the edge and was pouched by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum off O’Brien after making 47.

Zaheer Khan then scored a quickfire 51, including three consecutive boundaries off the hapless Kyle Mills, to consolidate India’s lead. Harbhajan too joined the party by lofting Vettori out of the ground for the only six of the Indian innings.