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Late assault puts India on top

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The opening day’s play of the third and final Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington saw a lot of twists and turns and the team with the final laugh was India at 375 for 9. India was asked to bat first and the Kiwis were in for punishment from the opening batsmen followed up by Tendulkar. India was coasting along but the Kiwis were relentless in pegging them back until the final session robbed them off their hard work.

Morning Session: India loses initiative after fiery start

Daniel Vettori won the toss and put India to bat first on what was promised to be a result-oriented pitch. The Kiwis made two changes with Daniel Flynn and Tim Southee replacing Jamie How and Jeetan Patel. The visitors made a welcome change with Skipper MS Dhoni returning back from injury to replace Dinesh Karthick.

The New Zealand opening bowlers were greeted by the blazing strokeplay from Virender Sehwag, the other opener Gautam Gambhir was a bit edgy but soon got along with the game. Sehwag just forgot that he was playing a Test Match and started to play shots at will as if was some club match in Delhi. Tim Southee was in particular flayed around in disdain, especially through the lofted cover drives. India raced away to 50 in less than 10 overs and seemed to be heading towards the 100-run mark too but that was when one change bowler Iain O’Brien got one to seam away in the 16th over to catch the edge off Sehwag (48 from 51 balls with 7 fours and a six). James Franklin who got the semi new ball to swing late gave the Kiwis the double delight when he beat Gambhir (23 from 47 balls with 2 fours) on the pads to make it 75 for 2 in the 17th over.

The excitement of the first hour that saw a carnage from Sehwag slowly died down with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar batting in a more conventional manner. The experienced duo took India to 101 for 2 in 27 overs at lunch with both of them still settling in.

Afternoon Session: Kiwis peg back India with a triple blow

The afternoon session saw Sachin Tendulkar dominate the Kiwi bowling, the little master was busy playing a few upper cuts over the slips, some forcible backfoot drives along with the occasional square drives on the up. He stroked his way to a half century too but got too carried away to throw his wicket away. In the 43rd over, Sachin Tendulkar (62 from 85 balls with 11 fours) tried to drive one on the up but the pitch had enough movement to help Martin find the edge. Tendulkar put on an important stand of 90 for the 3rd wicket in nearly 26 overs. His wicket was followed up by that of Laxman’s as the wristy right hander got caught in the slips after playing on the up to Southee for a single digit score. The match totally turned in the Kiwis’ favour when Yuvraj Singh was declared lbw after falling across to a Jesse Ryder delivery, the umpiring decision looked a bit debatable but Yuvraj deserved to be out for his faulty technique. All this while Rahul Dravid (on 31) was watching at the other end helplessly as his team went to Tea at 190 for 5 in 55 overs. Dravid himself should have been out just after lunch having nicked a Franklin delivery behind the stumps but for that being a no-ball.

Final Session: India finish at an unbelievable 375 for 9 thanks to the lower order

India received a big jolt after Tea when Rahul Dravid (35 from 114 balls with 3 fours) hit a pull shot off Martin straight to squareleg to reduce the score to 204 for 6! It was now all upto Skipper MS Dhoni, who was only having a decent batting stint after almost a week to take his side to a decent total. He had the luxury of the positive Harbhajan Singh, who is blessed with some exquisite timing. Dhoni took his time in getting his eye in and looked technically awkward, it was Harbhajan Singh who did the rescue act through some clever and at times lucky strokes through gully for some crucial runs. As each over went by, the two batsmen only grew in confidence and the Kiwis started to be taken for boundaries at regular intervals. Dhoni took on his counterpart Daniel Vettori for a boundary and a six over long on to add up the pressure. But once again when things were looking good for India they lost a wicket, this time it was Dhoni hooking Southee straight to fine leg after playing a Captain’s knock of 52 from 89 balls (with 6 fours and a six). He put on 79 runs with Harbhajan for the 7th wicket which could well be the turning point of this match. The final session saw India blast as many as 185 runs in just 35 overs to turn the match in their favour.

After Dhoni’s exit, Harbhajan played a couple of good shots to bring up his fifty before he perished trying to clear Vettori at mid off in the bowling of Chris Martin. Harbhajan Singh fell just two runs short of equaling Tendulkar as the top scorer, the turbanator made a sparkling 60 from 78 balls with 7 fours and a six. He could have been out atleast twice before but all the luck was with Harbhajan today. India finished the day at an incredible 375 for 9 in the allotted 90 overs. Zaheer Khan played a superb cameo of 33 from just 23 balls (with 6 fours) to take his team close to the magic figure of 350. Adding insult to injury was the last wicket pair of Ishant (15 from 25 balls with 2 fours) and Munaf Patel (14 from 11 balls with 3 fours) who are involved in an unbroken stand of 28. On a wicket that has some spice for the seamers, India will be more than happy with the scorecard on the first day. Daniel Vettori had a bad day as a bowler too and could only come up with 9 overs which were taken for 47 runs. The pacers with the exception of Tim Southee looked penetrative.