KANPUR, OCT 23: The fate of the second Test looked more or less settled by the afternoon of day two. And with an improved crowd response, India discovered a batting talent in Debang Gandhi.The Bengal lad and his opening partner, the consistent Sadagoppan Ramesh who took his tally of half centuries to five in only his sixth Test, displayed all the virtues that makes India such dangerous opponents in home conditions. The track which looked tricky when New Zealand batted held no terrors for the Indian openers. Unlike Anil Kumble and Co, the New Zealand spin duo of Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman had no aces up their sleeves.New Zealand face an uphill task. India will have to bat and bowl terribly on the next three days to lose their stranglehold on this Test. India are just just 44 short of overtaking the Kiwis with nine wickets in hand. If India take a big lead they promise to, the New Zealand batsmen would find survival difficult.For a brief period in the morning, the aggressive Chris Cairns and Dionposed a threat for India. But Sunil Joshi bounced and turned one awkwardly from a good length to create a panic among the opposition ranks. Within no time, from 255 for seven New Zealand were all out for 256.Ramesh led the Indian assault with Gandhi taking his time to find his touch. But once he did, the Bengal player played some innovative shots. He used his feet to drive the spinners through the covers and smash on the rise the medium-pacers Cairns and Nash.He slowed down in the post-tea session and in the process lost his touch. He got fooled by Astle's slower delivery. Though the Indian batting lost its momentum a bit, the presence of Rahul Dravid and Ramesh was reassuring.SCOREBOARDNew Zealand (1st innings; overnight 217-7):Matt Horne c MSK Prasad b Ganguly (11b, 15b, 1x4) 5Matthew Bell lbw Srinath (79b, 114m, 2x4) 15Craig Spearman c Ramesh b Kumble (42m, 34b, 2x4) 12Stephen Fleming b Srinath (25b, 35m) 2Nathan Astle lbw Srinath (85b, 117m, 5x4) 39CraigMcMillan c Ramesh b Joshi (66b, 78m, 4x4) 34Adam Parore c Dravid b Kumble (81b, 87m, 7x4) 35Chris Cairns c Tendulkar b Kumble (139b, 192m, 5x4, 3x6) 53Dion Nash not out 41 (100b, 136m, 6x4) 41Daniel Vettori c Bharadwaj b Harbhajan (3b, 3m) 0Paul Wiseman c Bhardawaj b Kumble (6b, 6m) 0Extras: (b 7, nb 13) 20Total: (in 423 minutes, 102.5 overs) 256Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Horne), 2-33 (Spearman), 3-40 (Fleming), 4-50 (Bell), 5-112 (McMillan), 6-130 (Astle), 7-172 (Parore), 8-255 (Cairns), 9-255 (Vettori)Bowling: Srinath 22-9-62-3, Ganguly 4-0-15-1, Kumble 32.5-12-67-4, Harbhajan 17-6-30-1, Joshi 25-7-63-1, Bharadwaj 2-0-12-0India (1st innings):Debang Gandhi c Fleming b Astle (186b, 242m, 14x4, 1x6) 88Sadagoppan Ramesh batting (213b, 309m, 11x4) 81Rahul Dravid batting (59b, 59b, 4x4) 29Extras: (b 5, lb 1, nb 8) 14Total: (for one wicket, in 75 overs) 212Fall of wickets: 1-162 (Gandhi)Bowling: Cairns 8-3-31-0, Nash 13-5-33-0, Vettori 25-2-66-0, Wiseman 19-6-67-0, Astle 10-5-9-1.
