Indians crawl to consolidate hold

SAS NAGAR (MOHALI), OCT 12: Mohali Stadium, almost deserted for the past two days, had a fair draw on the third day of this fascinating T...

SAS NAGAR (MOHALI), OCT 12: Mohali Stadium, almost deserted for the past two days, had a fair draw on the third day of this fascinating Test. After the tense and suspense-filled course the match has followed so far, a change of heart on the part of the paying public was only to be expected.

And, though no great entertainment was reserved for them, there was much for the home crowd to cheer today. The Indian batsmen did not fritter away the advantage their bowlers and openers gave them yesterday. Devang Gandhi and Sadagoppan Ramesh may have failed to translate their seventies into a century, but their 137-run opening partnership had opened a door, that seemed to have been shut tight after India were dismissed for 83 in the first innings.

After their dismissal, the reins were taken over by Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. The two dug in carefully, and opened out after tea. They played a few winsome strokes, and ended the day with a lead of 171, eight wickets still to fall.

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The wicket, though notconducive to strokeplay — the ball kept extremely low at times — gave very little assistance to the seamers and the spinners alike. With two days left in the Test, India can now look forward to dominating this Test and force New Zealand into an arduous struggle to stave off defeat.

The only grouse the New Zealanders can have is that they could have still been in the game had umpire Peter Manuel upheld a couple of very close lbw calls by Nathen Astle and Dion Nash when Tendulkar was yet to take control of his innings. The wicket of Tendulkar at that stage, when the Indians had adopted an ultra defensive approach, could have led to the New Zealanders putting India under tremendous pressure.

A sunny day, a strong breeze to keep the heat away and the prospects of India straining to take a firm grip on the match brought the crowds back to the stadium. But in store for them was a very laborious and tedious first and second sessions of play. No more than 109 runs were scored in the first four hours. WhileIndia looked to consolidate, the Kiwis, particularly Daniel Vettori, were trying to keep the Indians on a leash.

Ramesh, the man whose stunning timing has won him many admirers, once again showed that his ambitions find a saturation point once he gets past his fifty. If he was a victim of Vettori’s change of pace, Gandhi, in close vicinity of a century on his debut, got so bogged down in defending that he lost the advantage of striking when the attack was flagging and was out leg before, defending on the front foot.

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The New Zealanders, apart from those two close calls against Tendulkar, had one more opportunity to rattle the top base of the Indian batting. The opportunity was wasted when Astle failed to close his right hand while diving to his right to a difficult chance from Dravid when the batsmen was just settling in.

The Indians made light of these troubles and the Tendulkar-Dravid duo blossomed in the post tea session. Tendulkar, always willing to innovate, even at the risk of putting himself intotrouble, got into his real grove as the shadows started lengthening on the ground. Dravid, taking full toll of the second new ball, treated the short balls to a few venomous pulls.

SCOREBOARD

India (1st innings): 83

New Zealand (1st innings): 215

India (2nd innings):

Debang Gandhi lbw Astle 75 (6×4, 1336m, 242b)

Sadagoppan Ramesh c & b Vettori 73 (7×4, 242m, 213b)

Rahul Dravid batting 87 (8×4, 318m, 240b)

Sachin Tendulkar batting 54 (7×4, 217m, 149b)

Extras (b4, lb6, nb4): 14

Total (for two wickets): 303

Fall of wickets: 1-137 (Ramesh), 2-181 (Gandhi)

Bowling: Cairns 21-3-68-0, Nash 27-12-58-0, Vettori 56-22-92-1, O’Connors 11-3-34-0, Astle 23-8-33-1, McMillan 2-0-8-0