India vs New Zealand – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hyderabad-c792, August 25, 2012.
After failing to deal spin in the later stages of the previous day, the Kiwi batters again fell flat against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PP-Ojha-c2198, both of whom shared nine scalps among themselves, including a six-wicket haul for the former.
Heavy overnight rain forced another delay, with seven overs wiped out. The overcast conditions prompted skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Graham-Robert-Cowdrey-c60631 Wyk lbw in just the second over the day.
The Kiwi wicket-keeper went for a pull shot but the ball kept low and struck him in middle. Despite the early success, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JEC-Franklin-c1684 did well again the quicks, which ultimately forced Dhoni to play his trump cards.
Ojha’s introduction tied down both batsmen and eventually resulted in the wicket of Bracewell, who up till then had done well to reach 17. However, he ran out of patience and was soon stumped off the left-arm spinner.
That firmly exposed the tail and Ashwin then got in the groove to take the remaining three. He took a good catch off his own bowling to get rid of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447, while Chris Martin was cleaned up for a first ball duck.
Amidst all this was Franklin, who had resumed the day on 31 and showed conviction in dealing with the Indian bowlers, only to be left stranded on 43.
With the tourists 279 runs behind and more rain expected in the coming days, the Men in Blue opted to enforce the follow-on, a decision which looked appropriate given the insipid batting display of the Black Caps.
Also with the Indian bowlers looking fresh, the task of saving the match looks beyond the reach of the Kiwis.
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