Fry day for Kiwis as Ramesh, Sachin turn on the heat

The pitch has proved true to it’s colour. Pacers must have felt their speedometers had gone awry and spinners proved to be turncoats. But as the day proceeded, the track, already lifeless, became dustier still. Chances are it will be user-friendly only to the side batting first.

Friday’shoroscope for Tendulkar might as well have have read `One hell of a day.’ He won the toss, got his 21st Test century and the favourable stars all saw to it that he was dropped twice in his 90s.

Same was the case with Ramesh, whose association with Debang Gandhi has been the hottest new find for Indian cricket. But the Bhavnagar-born Gandhi had a bitter homecoming. With locals desperate to adopt anybody remotely connected to Gujarat on the international cricket field, the expectations were nothing if not sky high. But after being dropped once by Chris Cairns, the Bengal opener was caught behind when Dion Nash induced an inside edge. The team score read 20.

But Ramesh at the other end was his usual punishing self. Leading the bowlers to hell after walking them through fool’s paradise has been the southpaw’s forte. The deceptively vulnerable Ramesh played and missed, but as has happened so often in his short career thus far, the runs never stopped flowing. It is high time that critics who question hisfootwork just go and take a hike. After missing the fabled three-figure mark twice in this series — 73 at Mohali, 83 at Kanpur — Ramesh seemed more eager than ever to reach the magic figure. But with the calming influence of Tendulkar at the other end, he reached the second ton of his career with a on-drive off Vettori.

The only man to miss out the party was Rahul Dravid. Just when the cool customer from Bangalore seemed set to get into the act, he gave it all away. Attempting a square-cut off Vettori, he was caught behind by Parore on second attempt.

Dravid had to go through the embarrassment of all batsmen who get back to the hut before Tendulkar strides in.

A standing ovation when you are leaving the field is not everybody’s idea of relative failure with the bat. But Tendulkar justified the ovation with his usual innings — sedate at first and explosive later. Other than a short stint of hiccups in the 90s, Tendulkar had an aura of invincibility writ all over his inning. He reached his 100 in style– a pull off Vettori.

As can be judged from the exploits of the willow, the leather barely even managed to explore. The sole justification of including the medium pacers seemed to take shine off the new ball, while the spinners were none too impressive. The “back of the hand” wobbly dribbles of Chris Harris, which pass of as spin, appeared to be the only threat. That could well sum up the quality of other spinners.

Harris, playing his first Test in the series, replaced Mathew Bell, while Gary Stead came in for Craig McMillan. For India, Vijay Bharadwaj and Sunil Joshi made way for Ajay Jadeja and Ventakesh Prasad.

To end a perfect day for India, Ganguly got his half-century on the penultimate ball of the day. India start Day Two with Tendulkar and Ganguly — considered the most formidable opening pair in the limited overs version. India couldn’t have asked for a better pair to pile on the Kiwi agony.

SCOREBOARD

India (1st innings)
Debang Gandhi c Parore b Cairns 6 (29b, 38m,1×4)
Sadagopan Ramesh c Spearman b Harris 110 (169b, 228m, 13×4)
Rahul Dravid c Parore b Vettori 33 (64b, 87m, 6×4)
Sachin Tendulkar batting 104(163b, 247m, 17×4)
Saurav Ganguly batting 51 (118b, 146m, 8×4).
Extras (3b, 1lb, 3nb) 7.
Total (for three wickets in 90 overs, 378 minutes) 311.
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Gandhi, 8.4 overs), 2-102 (Dravid, 30), 3-182 (Ramesh, 53.1 overs).

Bowling
Chris Cairns 17-4-56-1 (1nb)
Dion Nash 17-4-46-0 (1nb)
Daniel Vettori 28-2-103-1
Nathan Astle 2-0-12-0
Chris Harris 12-3-40-1 (1nb)
Paul Wiseman 14-2-50-0.