A solid 102 from Gautam Gambhir and a stylish 58 not out from Sachin Tendulkar steered India to 252 for two by the close on day four to leave the visitors trailing by 62 runs.India have eight wickets in hand with three sessions remaining on the fifth and final day of the second Test against New Zealand.
India was made to follow on after being bowled out for just 305 in their first innings in reply to the Black Caps' 619 for nine declared on the third day.
Unless something dramatic happens on the final day at McLean Park in Napier, the second Test appears to be heading for a draw.It means the hope of the series win for India would remain alive, as India lead the series by 1-0.
Dravid scored 62, after contributing 83 to India's first innings of 305 to mark.It was his 56th half-century in Tests and the 10th occasion he has scored half-centuries in each innings of a Test match.
Gambhir was painfully slow through the 80s, spending almost 13 overs static on 83, before comparatively speeding through the 90s to reach his century in 6 hours, 39 minutes, from 265 balls with 14 fours.
Tendulkar made up for his dismissal for 49 in the first innings by reaching his 52nd Test half-century with seven fours and a streaky six.He made a third-wicket partnership with Gambhir which had contributed 89 runs by stumps to carry the tourists to stumps in a position of comfort, if not yet of complete safety.
India's progress through the fourth day was slow.India negotiated the day with the loss of only Dravid's wicket,which was the best thing for India.Earlier,India had a threat of defeat ,but now they have strengthened their position in the three-match series which they lead 1-0.
After resuming at 47 for one, trailing New Zealand by 267 runs, India added 205 runs in 90 overs in the day, placing a higher premium on survival than accumulation.
The tourists scored only 72 runs in 33 overs before lunch, 61 runs in 30 overs between lunch and tea and 72 runs in 27 overs in the final session.
But the approach successfully frustrated New Zealand and, though captain Daniel Vettori carefully rotated his bowlers, he was unable to make a vital breakthrough into the Indian innings,except Dravid’s wicket.
Dravid, who was caught close-in on the leg side off Vettori in the 73rd over and when India were 163 for two. The ball appeared to flick Dravid's glove, hit on his pad and was caught at short leg but replays showed that the ball had missed the hand and come directly from the pad to the close-in fieldsman.
Dravid had put on 133 runs in 241 minutes with Gambhir for the second wicket, hitting six fours and a six in his third half-century in four innings in the series.
Match Summary (Day4 Stump)
New Zealand 1st Inning – 619/9 in 154.4 Overs
J.Ryder- 201 R.Taylor–151
I.Sharma– 27-5-95-3 Z.Khan– 34-6-129-3
India 1st Inning – 305/10 in 93.5 Overs
R.Dravid- 83 V.V.S Laxman–76
C.Martin– 24-5-89-3 D.Vettori– 19-5-45-2
India 2nd Inning – 252/2 in 107 Overs
G.Gambhir- 102* S.Tendulkar–58*
J.Patel– 28-6-73-1 D.Vettori– 24-7-48-1
No comments:
Post a Comment