The Black Caps need look no further than their Indian opposition for a blueprint on surviving the final day of the first Test in Kanpur.
New Zealand go into the fifth day needing 434 to win or to bat out three sessions for the draw after closing on 93-4.
Bowling coach Shane Jurgensen says the Indian batsmen have shown the way despite New Zealand's improved performance with the ball.
"If you get a good partnership going, and we saw that today when India batted, you can score at a decent rate and more importantly bat for time," he said.
"That's our goal - to fight for as long as we can."
India resumed in Sunday morning on 159-1 and made steady progress for much of the day, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara taking their second-wicket stand to 133 before the former was trapped lbw by Mitchell Santner for 76.
Captain Virat Kohli made 18 and Pujara reached a top score of 78 before becoming Ish Sodhi's second victim.
Ajinkya Rahane added 40 before edging Santner to slip where Ross Taylor took an excellent diving catch, but Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja put on an unbroken 100 in 18.3 overs to allow India to declare on 377 for five.
Jurgensen said he was pleased with the way the bowlers had adapted to challenging conditions.
"We made the necessary adjustments and we showed a much improved performance with the ball.
"But credit to the Indian batsmen. There were certainly times when we bowled and created pressure, but they are very experienced and they wore us down."
Jurgensen said the Indian bowlers also piled the pressure.
"They make you play the ball consistently, they bowl straight and they're very experienced. That's shown by the little adjustments they make - positions on the crease, angles, field placements."
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took the first three wickets, removing Martin Guptill and Tom Latham in the fourth over of the innings with only three runs on the board.
He then worked over captain Kane Williamson, eventually dismissing him lbw for 25, before Ross Taylor was foolishly run out for 17, reaching the crease but failing to ground his bat before Umesh Yadav's direct hit.
Luke Ronchi was 38 not out from 52 balls at stumps, while Santner had ground his way to eight from 50 deliveries at the other end to set the tone which will be needed on Monday.
