Cricket: McCullum leads fight back

There are enough sad sack punters out there who may fancy siding with New Zealand to win the second cricket test against India tomorrow.

You know the types; overdraft close to maxing out, wife fretting about unpaid bills and the kids wearing op shop clothes.

They are always willing to risk the mortgage, though, on a long shot - which is precisely where New Zealand sit entering the last day at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Crucially, transplanted opener Brendon McCullum still has a role to play after his sixth test century carried the tourists to 237 for four in their second innings, holding an overall lead of just 115 runs with three sessions remaining.

In only his second test as a specialist top order batsman, former wicketkeeper McCullum is the ace up New Zealand's sleeve after he scored 124 not out and shared an opening stand of 125 with left-hander Tim McIntosh.

Incredibly, that represented New Zealand's first century stand for the first wicket in 6-1/2 years which tells you everything you need to know about the fragility of the side's top order batting.

But that is a sideshow to the main show tomorrow as McCullum resumes alongside the only other remaining specialist batsman Kane Williamson, who will take guard on 12 despite copping a blow to the helmet from fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth very late in the piece yesterday.

It is not in McCullum's nature to back down from a fight and his proven ability to score quickly could well prove vital because runs will become just as important as the preservation of wickets for the tourists.

"I'm happy but not completely satisfied yet, I know I have a lot of work to do tomorrow," McCullum said after keeping the Indians at bay for 2-1/2 sessions once the Indian first innings finally expired at 472 following an unbeaten 111 from Harbhajan Singh, who enjoyed a mighty 10th wicket stand of 105 with tailender Sreesanth.

"Who knows how the game will turn out but it is great to turn up on the fifth day not knowing whether you're going to win, lose or draw."

McCullum, who hit 11 fours and three sixes in a chanceless knock so far lasting 177 balls, said the first hour tomorrow against the second new ball would be telling.

"We have to get through that new ball and whether that's through attacking or seeing it off, we have to work that out tomorrow.

"If it's overcast it might go round (swing) a bit more and that may need counter-attacking."

While McIntosh scored 49 to back up his first innings of 102, none of the other New Zealand batsmen lent McCullum long-term support, with Martin Guptill nicked out for 18, Ross Taylor having his off stump uprooted by Sreesanth for seven and Jesse Ryder falling to a catch behind the wicket for 20.

They lost one wicket too many for comfort and know the power of the Indian batting lineup means a target in the range of 240 off 45 overs will leave them vulnerable if the likes of destructive opener Virender Sehwag gets underway.

But McCullum is happy that he still has a few shots to play and if he sticks around he could well make the game safe for his team.

He tailored his game to suit the needs of his side on day four despite being confronted with very odd field settings by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who resorted to 7-3 and even 8-2 leg side fields to frustrate McCullum.

"I have to play a bit differently, I have to combat the new ball and then go through the gears as the innings progresses.

"I felt later on today that I had to go back to that more defensively minded approach when we needed to make sure we got through to stumps with as least amount of damage as we could."

India were without pace spearhead Zaheer Khan for a large portion of the day.

He disappeared into the dressing room late in the morning with an abdominal strain and stayed there for the entire afternoon session before re-emerging after tea to field but not bowl.

McCullum predicts the lion hearted left-arm quick will be back in action tomorrow to test the tourists' mettle.

"They have a new ball in the morning, Zaheer Khan is likely to be back and there's a huge challenge we have to overcome early in that first session."

- NZPA