Caged Kiwis sight opening

The Motera wicket, true to its form, eased out on Friday belying India8217;s hopes that it would start cracking up on the third day as the New Zealanders inched to within 19 runs of making India bat again. The follow on had looked imminent on Thursday not because of anything vicious in the wicket but because Zaheer Khan had sliced through their top order with three quick wickets and raised hopes of the Kiwis8217; innings folding up soon.

But one man 8212; century-maker Nathan Astle 8212; defied the Indian attack almost throughout the day.

The lack of a regular fifth bowler hit India hard as skipper Saurav Ganguly ran out of options to get Astle out, the wicket not helping speedster Khan 8212; even with the second new ball 8212; and its slowness smothering Harbhajan Singh8217;s spin. Anil Kumble 8212; who picked up his 350th Test wicket when he dismissed Oram 8212; was not penetrative enough, and L Balaji, who trapped Robbie Hart for his first Test wicket, did not live up to expectations.

Ganguly, inexplicably, persisted with only Sehwag without trying either himself or Sachin Tendulkar, two other options available as the fifth bowler. The skipper, with a groin infection, may have decided against bowling himself but Sachin could have come in handy with his variety. Though Sehwag broke the fifth-wicket partnership between Astle and McMillan, only Zaheer and Harbhajan were able to put them under pressure with nagging line and length.

Harbhajan turned the ball copiously and began the day with some excellent dippers but was never quite threatening. He could have had Scott Styris early in the day but Aakash Chopra at forward short-leg failed twice in his attempts to latch on to the chances. They, however, did not prove costly as Chopra finally succeeded on his third attempt. But a wicket so early in the day could have put further pressure on the Kiwis.

Astle had two fruitful partnerships with Styris and McMillan as he cautiously built his innings 8212; shorn of extravagance 8212; to take the Kiwis within sight of avoiding the follow-on. But Astle, when on 103, stepped out to Harbhajan and missed the line completely to enable Parthiv Patel to effect the stumping much to the delight of the home crowd. It was a poor shot under the circumstances, particularly when the batsman was well set to see the Kiwis home.

With just two wickets in hand and 19 runs adrift of their immediate target, the Kiwis have placed themselves in a tricky situation. They still have to bat the fourth innings. But if they manage to get those runs and force India bat again, the situation could become even more trickier as Ganguly 038; Co will have to score runs much quicker than they did in the first innings and, more importantly, decide on a target for the Kiwis to chase. However, there was some encouraging news for the home crowd towards the end of the day. A couple of balls that Kumble bowled in his last spell on Friday spun a bit more than it did throughout the day and bounced. This is what the Indians would hope for tomorrow when the Kiwis resume their innings.