Day 3: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 fight back through Jesse Ryder’s 100 in 1st Ahmedabad Test against India
New Zealand has made a roaring comeback on the third day of the first Test against India being played at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.
The tourists, who had crashed to 137/4 in their first innings in reply to a mammoth score of 487 by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, yet a spirited 100 by left-handed all-rounder Jesse Ryder brought them right back in the match as they went past the follow-on
mark.
The Black Caps ended the day at 331/5 and are now 156 runs away from the first innings total posted by the Indians.
Resuming at the overnight score of 56/2, the pair of Brendon McCullum and Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 continue to rebuild their team score.
They looked assured in the opening session of the day, despite being bogged down by Indian spin twins Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.
Harbhajan and Ojha extracted spin from the Sardar Patel Stadium track and it was the off-spinner Harbhajan who got the first break of the day for his team when he had Taylor caught by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772.
Taylor scored 56 runs, hitting 6 fours in his knock; his runs came off 124 balls. The mainstay of the New Zealand batting line-up was clearly disappointed after missing out on a big score.
The Black Caps were in a spot of bother when McCullum, who had shared a 104-run partnership with Taylor, fell with the total on 137. The right-handed opener, who quit wicketkeeping to concentrate on his batting in the longest format
of the game, scored 65 runs off 122 balls.
He was snapped by Ojha on the brink of the lunch interval, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 completing a stumping opportunity.
The Black Caps were pegged back by the demise of their two senior batsmen and stared at the prospect of a follow-on. After the break, Jesse Ryder and Kane Williamson, who is making his Test debut, brought their team back in the
game with their refreshing approach.
The two took full advantage of anything loose on offer and steadily built their partnership. They played throughout the second session of play, adding 89 runs in the process.
The right-handed Williamson, who is being hailed as an outstanding prospect for the New Zealanders, continued to impress in the final session of play. He brought his maiden Test half-century off 118 balls; he hit 4 fours in his
first 50 runs.
The aggressive Ryder reached his 50 off 96 balls, smacking 6 fours in his half-century; yet he was not finished and aimed for a ton. He duly reached there off his 203rd ball.
The left-hander was elated at reaching the coveted mark and raised his arms in jubilation. He hit 10 fours and 1 six in the process; however, he failed to carry on and was sent back to the pavilion on the last ball of the day.
He was trapped lbw by fast bowler S. Sreesanth for 103 runs; the burly batsman had added 194 runs with the rookie Williamson.
Williamson was unbeaten on 87 off 226 balls; the sedate right-hander has hit 6 fours in his knock and showcased a great deal of patience and ability in his very first Test match.
The Indian bowlers had to toil hard in their pursuit of success and Ojha was the only one to claim 2 wickets. The left-armer ended with the figures of 2 wickets for 80 runs off 38 overs.
His spinning partner Harbhajan Singh claimed one wicket for 90 runs; he bowled 34 overs.
Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, the two pace bowlers, have a wicket each to show for their efforts on a generally benign batting surface.
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