Riding on two brilliant centuries by Ryder (137) and Taylor (151), New Zealand managed to score 351 at the loss of four wickets on Day 1 of the 2nd Test against India.
Ross Taylor scored his third Test century and Jesse Ryder his second in a record 271-run fourth-wicket partnership which lifted New Zealand out of trouble.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out of the match on Thursday with a back injury, handing the captaincy to Virender Sehwag who led India for only the second time in a Test.
Earlier, New Zealand's top order collapsed as Tim McIntosh was out, unluckily, for 12, Jamie How for 1 and Martin Guptill for 8.
Taylor and Ryder were thrown together in only the 11th over on Thursday, with New Zealand's innings in collapse at 23 for three. They pursued their partnership for the next 58.2 overs to lift the home side to 294-4 before Taylor was out for 151.
The partnership was the highest by a New Zealand pair for all wickets against India, beating 231, and the highest for New Zealand's fourth wicket against all nations, beating the previous mark of 241.
Taylor's century was his first in five Tests, since his 115 against Australia at Brisbane in November.
Taylor's innings of 262 minutes and 204 balls was still the foundation of New Zealand's strong position at stumps on day one. He had come to the crease when New Zealand were struggling due to early collapse and was the first batsman to offer resistance to India's attack.
Taylor struggled to curb his aggressive nature and offered chances throughout his innings, before he got out finally trying to loft an attempted sweep to Yuvraj Singh on the square leg boundary off Harbhajan Singh in the final session.
Ryder, in contrast, played a composed and technically expert innings, limiting his scoring shots to precise and predetermined areas and offering few opportunities to the fielding side.
Ryder was unbeaten on 137 at stumps, having batted more than seven hours for his second century in consecutive Tests after his 102 at Hamilton, where India won by 10 wickets.
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