Cricket: India in total control as series win looms

Zaheer Khan of India appeals for an decision on Tim McIntosh of New Zealand during day two of the Third Test match between New Zealand and India. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's plans for a series-levelling victory have been revised to avoiding a heavy defeat in the third cricket test after Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh placed India in a seemingly unassailable position at the Basin Reserve today.

The final test of the summer is heading towards an early conclusion with India batting for a second time on just the second day after rolling the hosts for just 197.

They were 51 for one at the close, holding an overall lead of 233 runs having lost opener Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag began his innings with a trio of crunching boundaries but the opener's dismissal for a seven-ball 12 hardly undermined his side's chances of completing India's first series win in New Zealand since 1968.

Gautam Gambhir was unbeaten on 28 and Rahul Dravid was at the other end on nine.

New Zealand wrapped up India's first innings in 13 balls this morning and Chris Martin probably thought he could put his feet up after taking four for 98 from 25.1 overs.

Instead, he received an even bigger cheer for his lofted straight drive to the fence from Harbhajan and soon after was bouncing around when Sehwag sparred a short ball to Ross Taylor at first slip.

Iain O'Brien also has cause for celebration, though not with the ball.

His innings of 19 eclipsed his previous best of 14 not out against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2007 and also included his 100th test run.

Those were the only batting milestones of note from New Zealand's response to India's brisk 379.

New Zealand reply spanned only 65 overs and apart from O'Brien and Martin's belated blows, highlights were fleeting.

Taylor topscored with 42 from 92 balls and he alone looked totally comfortable at the crease before he appeared to be caught behind down the leg side off the thigh pad.

However, despite replays showing no hint of contact with the bat Taylor said he felt a "little nick".

Taylor admitted the batsmen did display the required application at the crease.

"Only batting 65 overs is very disappointing and is not giving our bowlers enough rest," he said.

The biggest partnership of the innings was the 49 cobbled together by Taylor and opener Tim McIntosh, who made 32, after Khan had made the initial incisions before lunch.

The left-armer had a cramped Martin Guptill chopping on for 17 to his first delivery angled from round the wicket before dismissing Daniel Flynn for two when he became the first of wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's six catches.

New Zealand reached lunch at 64 for two but once Khan found the shoulder of McIntosh's bat enroute to Yuvraj Singh at first slip four overs after the resumption the home side's hopes plummeted.

The middle session was disastrous for New Zealand as five wickets tumbled for 58 runs, a collapse that included Jesse Ryder.

His homecoming lasted all off 22 minutes when an attempted ramp shot over the slips took an under edge before being pouched by Dhoni.

Ryder's demise for three was a hammer blow, as was Taylor's ill-timed exit to Harbhajan when the score was 120.

James Franklin departed five runs later for 15 when he swept past Murali Vijay under the helmet but directly to Virender Sehwag and then skipper Daniel Vettori, on 11, joined the procession before tea.

New Zealand started the final session listing at 140 for seven and Khan promptly completed the seventh five-wicket bag of his 65-test career - and third against New Zealand - when Tim Southee skied a return catch on 16.

There was a possibility New Zealand might be asked to follow on but O'Brien squirted a boundary through gully to take the score past 180.

Khan finished with the superb figures of five for 65 from 18 overs while Harbhajan followed his 60 with the bat yesterday with three for 43 from 23.

Dhoni's six catches equalled the record for wicketkeeping dismissals in a test innings between New Zealand and India.

He shares it with compatriot Syed Kirmani, who took five catches and made a stumping at Christchurch's Lancaster Park in 1976.

Taylor evoked the memory of one of New Zealand's cricket's recent disasters when suggesting New Zealand could still win the game.

He cited the second test of last year's tour of England where New Zealand squandered a 179-run first innings lead before their hosts won by six wickets chasing 294 at Old Trafford.

"All we need to do is think back to the Manchester test and how England played against us. We had a big first innings lead and got out for a hundred odd (114) - so hopefully we can turn the tables and bowl them out that way."

- NZPA