Harbhajan Singh’s heroics take http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at Ahmedabad
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh played the innings of his life to salvage a draw for his team as the New Zealanders failed to get through the last four Indian wickets in time to push for a famous win in the first Test match
at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.
Resuming their second innings at a precarious 82/6, the hosts were relying on the duo of Harbhajan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772, a man renowned for pulling his team out of the mire.
The two were in full control and did not let their team down, putting up a magnificent rearguard action in front of a boisterous crowd.
The two stayed intact for the best part of two sessions on the final day and forced the New Zealanders on the back-foot with a brilliant batting display that was typical back to the wall Test cricket.
Laxman was more content on occupying the crease, while Harbhajan played the off extravagant shot to slowly bail his team out of trouble.
The Indians had lost 6 wickets for 65 runs when the two came to the crease; their team was a measly 93 runs ahead and had only 4 wickets in the bank when their association started.
India had scored 487 runs in their first innings and the New Zealanders had responded manfully, posting 459 runs in their first hit with the bat. They were then put in a match-winning position by a stunning spell of pace bowling
by the veteran Chris Martin who claimed 5 wickets either side of tea on Day 4 to leave the hosts reeling.
As the partnership progressed, the nerves in the Indian camp eased; the two added 80 runs in the morning session, taking lunch at 164/6. After the lunch interval, the two batsmen opened their shoulders and went about the task of
dismantling the tiring Black Caps.
Laxman was eventually dismissed for 91, 9 runs short of his 17th Test hundred. His valiant innings included 9 fours and came off 253 balls.
His departure spurred Harbhajan on as he neared his first Test century; the off-spinner celebrated wildly upon reaching the mark.
The explosive Sikh pumped his fist in jubilation and jumped in the air; his ton came off 165 balls and included 10 fours and 2 sixes.
Harbhajan was eventually dismissed for 115 runs. He was caught by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 who got the bonus of another wicket later.
He dismissed last man Sreesanth for 4 runs as the Indians closed their second innings at 266.
Their overall lead was 294 runs, which meant that they had batted long enough to salvage a draw from what was at one time a miserable position for them.
The New Zealanders came out for a short duration in their second innings; they were rocked by the early dismissal of opener Tim McIntosh, who was trapped lbw by left arm pacer Zaheer Khan for a duck.
The match was called off with no result in sight; the Black Caps, however, were the better team in the match and hung in to shock the Indians despite conceding a mammoth first innings score of 487.
However, they would be ruing the missed opportunity of posting a famous win after Chris Martin’s dream spell on the penultimate day of the Test match.
Harbhajan Singh, who claimed a single wicket in the match, was mighty pleased when he was named man of the match for his resolute batting performance that he would remember for a long time.
The second Test match starts in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hyderabad-c792 from the 12th of this month.
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