Replying to New Zealand’s 350 all out, India were 62 for no loss in their first innings at tea on the second day of the second cricket Test here on Saturday.
The Kiwis were all out for 350 in their first innings in the post-lunch session on the second day of the second cricket Test against India here on Saturday.
Lunch batting report
The pace-spin duo of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh rocked New Zealand’s line-up after Jesse Ryder’s valiant half-century as the visitors reached 341 for nine at lunch on day two of the second cricket Test against India here on Saturday.
Harbhajan took the wickets of Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori, Ryder and Tim Southee after Zaheer removed Gareth Hopkins and Kane Williamson to add to his two wickets on the first day.
Earlier, on a high after scoring a century in the first Test in Ahmedabad, Ryder continued his good run with the bat as New Zealand, resuming at an overnight 258 for four, continued to put up a fighting show at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The left-hander struck 10 boundaries during his knock of 70 that came off 120 deliveries, and got to his fifty with a cut over backward point off S. Sreesanth.
He, however, fell to Harbhajan when the off-spinner had him caught by V.V.S. Laxman at first slip.
Ryder’s knock was important from New Zealand’s point of view, especially after Zaheer threatened to run through the Kiwi line-up with an incisive spell of swing bowling early in the morning, and Harbhajan’s dismissal of Vettori sometime before lunch.
Zaheer gave India the start they needed when the left-armer, bowling from round the stumps, trapped Hopkins in front in the day’s third over.
Hopkins’s decision to shoulder arms did him in as the ball swung in from outside off stump to leave the batsman clueless.
The round-the angle line again did the trick for Zaheer when the seamer trapped Williamson before the batsman could get his bat around to give the bowler his fourth wicket and leave New Zealand in a spot of bother.
Harbhajan then got into the act, first removing Vettori, and then accounting for the crucial wicket of Ryder who was looking good for a century.
The burly batsman started the visitors’ recovery after Tim McIntosh, in the company of Martin Guptill, laid the foundation with a sedate century on the first day.
The visitors, who decided to bat first after winning the toss, resumed with Ryder and Hopkins.
