New Zealand are alive in the first test, for which they can thank their captain, Dan Vettori, and Jesse Ryder, after an awful morning session yesterday which threatened to derail their ambitions before the players had gathered round the lunch table.
Even so, New Zealand must bowl and field out
of their skins at Seddon Park today on a pitch which was slow and comfortable well before stumps yesterday, at which point India's openers Virendar Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had proceeded untroubled to 29 without loss in reply to New Zealand's 279.
Vettori and Ryder set a New Zealand record for the seventh wicket against India, 186 in 286 balls en route to their third and first test hundreds respectively with contrasting innings, eclipsing the old mark of 163 by Bert Sutcliffe and Bruce Taylor at Kolkata 44 years ago.
They dominated the second session with a display of grit and resolve to wrest back the substantial initiative India had taken in the opening two hours. Without them, New Zealand would be in a sorry state.
Even so, India hold the whip hand, with their heavyweight batting troupe preparing to take the stage today.
"We created momentum through our partnership, but if you erased that and just looked at the scores, you'd say India is ahead," Vettori said last night.
New Zealand were reeling at 61 for six at lunch, after India's new ball men, Zaheer Khan, who kept up a demanding line all day, and the tall Ishant Sharma had produced a searching display in helpful conditions but against some average New Zealand batting.
Having been sent in, New Zealand's morning batting was a mix of the ordinary - Daniel Flynn departing third ball to a leg side strangle - the unlucky, wherein James Franklin was stiff to be given caught behind second ball, and the sloppy, when Brendon McCullum speared away from his body at a straight ball giving an easy edge to second slip.
Throw in some comedic running between the wickets and things could have been far worse by lunch. All this came a day after Vettori had backed them to be "in a good space", his concerns more centred on New Zealand's bowling.
Thank goodness, then, for Ryder and Vettori.
Both had streaky moments, and why India didn't have a third slip when the two strike men were operating to the left-handed pair defied belief, as the ball sailed through the air or along the ground through that channel several times.
Resolute or watchful would ordinarily not be the first words to link with Ryder. But yesterday the rollicking one-day Ryder was replaced by a more mature test version. He did precisely what the situation called for in completing his maiden century after four and a half hours of concentration and skill.
Ryder would have been jittery on 98 as last man Chris Martin walked to the crease with five Harbhajan Singh deliveries to see out.
Perhaps Martin saw umpire Ian Gould signalling to the ground staff that India requested the light roller before he had taken guard. Resolve suitably stiffened, he did his bit before Ryder flicked his 14th boundary off Sharma before holing out next ball.
Ryder was patient - his first 28 balls from offspinner Harbhajan yielded a single - but drove crisply and worked the ball about tidily in a class performance.
Vettori is a fascinating, resourceful batsman. In the course of his innings, he nurdled, squirted and french cut in between driving forcefully, cutting deftly and hitting cleanly through the onside in dominating their stand.
He has a sharp eye and recognises a half volley as well as anyone. Once he was given a life on 77, when Rahul Dravid - who earlier equalled Mark Waugh's world record 181 test catches - spilled him at slip off Harbhajan, he made sure of his century.
Vettori's departure, caught off an inside edge for 118 off 164 balls with 14 fours and two sixes, hastened the end of the innings.
India's bowlers got good reward for sticking at their job, Sharma the most successful and most threatening, the others playing their parts. They had to put up with some unusual field settings through the day, including a 7-2 offside blend and no slip as Ryder approached his century.
Now it's India's batsmen's turn.
Sehwag clipped his first ball from Kyle Mills to the boundary yesterday and ominously bore an uncanny resemblance to the bloke who tormented New Zealand during the one-day series.
New Zealand's bowlers need to strike early today. Golf calls its third round "moving day", when players jostle for a run at the title the next day.
Today has the makings of the day which will decide the direction this test takes.
NEW ZEALAND
First innings
T McIntosh c Sehwag b Sharma12
M Guptill c Dravid b Khan14
D Flynn c Dhoni b Khan0
R Taylor b Sharma18
J Ryder c Laxman b Sharma102
J Franklin c Dhoni b Sharma0
B McCullum c Laxman b Patel3
D Vettori c Dhoni b Patel118
K Mills b Patel0
I O'Brien std Dhoni b Harbhajan8
C Martin not out0
Extras (1lb 3nb)4
Total (all out, 78.2overs)279
Fall: 17, 17, 40, 51, 51, 60, 246, 246, 275, 279.
Bowling: Z Khan 16-3-70-2 (2nb), I Sharma 19.2-4-73-4, M Patel 18-4-60-3, H Singh 22-7-57-1, V Sehwag 3-0-18-0 (1nb)
INDIA
First innings
G Gambhir not out6
Virender Sehwag not out22
Extras (1b)1
Total (for 0 wkt, 7 overs)29
Bowling: C Martin 4-1-9-0, K Mills 2-0-18-0, I O'Brien 1-0-1-0.
Cricket: Magnificent duo rescue Kiwis
Daniel Vettori is congratulated by Jesse Ryder after scoring a century against India at Seddon Park. Photo / Sarah Ivey
New Zealand are alive in the first test, for which they can thank their captain, Dan Vettori, and Jesse Ryder, after an awful morning session yesterday which threatened to derail their ambitions before the players had gathered round the lunch table.
Even so, New Zealand must bowl and field out
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