Dravid’s century leads India to a commanding position
A resilient century from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid anchored India to a commanding position on the third day of the third and final Test against New Zealand in Nagpur. Dravid led the Indian recovery with skipper MS Dhoni, after the Kiwis struck early capturing three wickets for just 32 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 combined with the master batsman Dravid to break the opposition’s resistance, as the pair fought back strongly with a 58-run partnership to put India in a comfortable position.
Dravid’s 31st Test hundred broke the Kiwi’s persistence with the ball, after they threatened to bowl out the hosts quickly in the morning session. Dravid mixed attack with defence and led the fight back with a composed knock.
His partner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 was in a positive frame of mind right from the start of his innings, as he cracked six scintillating boundaries in his knock of 35 runs. In doing so, the wicket keeper batsman broke the shackles, which some tight bowling by the Kiwis had imposed on the batsmen.
The wicket was offering a bit of assistance for the seam bowlers, and the new ball did the trick for the Kiwi bowlers. In the first 10 to 15 overs, the pacers bowled with great control and nagging accuracy, as they dented the home team by striking thrice in the first hour.
Andy McKay scalped his first Test victim on debut, as he got rid of Sachin Tendulkar with a straighter delivery, which the batsman edged through to the wicket keeper.
Chris Martin then picked up the crucial wicket of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772 with one that pitched outside off-stump and moved-in off the seam to knock back the leg-stump.
Suresh Raina was under pressure following his poor performances in the last two matches. This was the perfect opportunity for the talented left hander to prove to the critics why he was preferred ahead of Rohit Sharma and Chateshwar Pujara.
However, Raina could not handle the pressure, and fell to Daniel Vettori off a delivery which landed on the rough, and was edged into the pad to give the silly mid-off fielder an easy catch.
Earlier on day two, India started the innings in emphatic fashion, as they piled up 292 runs for the loss of two wickets. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 devastated the opposition bowling with his fluent strokes, as he struck a well made 74 runs off just 73 balls.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 made a return to form in the last game, and carried it into the Nagpur Test, as the left-hander blasted a brisk 78 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 is well ahead of New Zealand, as they have already gained a sizeable 193-run lead in the first innings so far. The visitors have to bowl the home team out as quickly as possible, to give their batsmen a chance to at-least salvage a draw.
It has been a struggle for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 bowlers, much like it was for their batsmen, who were bundled out for a paltry 193 runs in their first innings. Captain Daniel Vettori has been the pick of the bowlers with figures of 122 for two.
Tags: