New Zealand fight back on second morning

Rookie off spinner Jeetan Patel,who looked hardly threatening yesterday,captured the prize wickets of Tendulkar,who was caught and bowled,and Laxman who was trapped leg before.

Part-time debutant off-break bowler Kane Williamson was the other wicket taker who dismissed Suresh Raina,caught at short covers when he pushed firmly off the back foot as India slid from 383 for 3 to a lunch-time total of 392 for 6 in just six overs.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh were on the crease after Laxman,who played for 150 minutes,was dismissed with the second ball of the last over by Patel.

The hosts lost three wickets in 30.2 overs,adding only 63 runs to the total after looking in complete control last evening.

It was a disappointing first session for the hosts who were looking forward to notching up at least 500 runs on the board but the Kiwis,without debutant Hamish Bennett in the attack after he pulled up with a groin strain in the morning,bowled tightly with skipper Daniel Vettori leading the way.

In total contrast to yesterday’s opening session when Virender Sehwag,who notched up his 22nd Test century with a dazzling knock of 173 to provide the fireworks ahead of Diwali,the Indian batting on the day of the festival of lights against a mediocre Kiwis attack was insipid.

With Tendulkar and Laxman content to set their eyes in and with India looking to score over 500 runs at the least,runs came in a trickle with only 29 runs scored off the first 16 overs against New Zealand’s most experienced bowlers Chris Martin and skipper Daniel Vettori,for the most part.

The second hour too did not produce sparkling stroke-play as only 25 runs came for the loss of three important wickets in the next 14.2 overs. Vettori bowled a tight spell of 16 overs for 14 runs before giving way to Williamson just before the interval.

The Kiwis attack was content to keep the runs down with slow left-arm Vettori bowling to a packed off side field.

The first boundary of the morning,after only four runs came in singles in the first six overs,was hit by Tendulkar who swung a short ball from Martin,who erred in length on the occasion after bowling a fuller length,to the mid wicket fence.

Laxman scored his first four when he square cut Martin uppishly and just wide of the point fielder as the 350 of the innings came up in the 11th over of the day.

Martin was replaced after a five-over by part-time medium pacer Jesse Ryder,who accounted for Gautam Gambhir’s wicket yesterday morning,before Jeetan Patel was in turn brought in.

Tendulkar swung the off spinner,who has looked innocuous against the Indian batsmen,and then square cut Patel for boundaries when he pitched short while Laxman too was given a chance to pull another short ball for a four.

The 50 of the stand between the two came up during this period in 134 balls and 103 minutes before Patel got his revenge by sending back the champion batsman,who patted back a tossed up ball back to the bowler,to spark celebrations in the New Zealand ranks.

Tendulkar,with the entire country looking forward to him notching up his 50th Test hundred,took 86 balls to add 27 runs to his overnight score before losing his wicket to the off spinner,25 minutes before lunch. In all,he had a 168-minute stay at the crease.

Raina followed suit,caught brilliantly by Brendon McCullum,off the 19th ball he faced.

The Kiwis ended the session on a high note by dismissing Laxman in the last over. The batsman played forward defensively from the crease but the ball turned in and sneaked its way to hit his pads right in front. He,however,did not look happy to be given out.