Jesse Ryder continued to command center stage as India crashed in the second Test against New Zealand and were forced to follow on 314 runs in arrears on the third day yesterday.
India’s first innings folded at 305 after a withering bowling spell in which they lost their last six wickets for 59 runs inside 16 overs.
At stumps India were 47-1 in their second innings, requiring a further 267 runs to make New Zealand bat again.
PHOTO: AFP
Gautam Gambhir was 14 not out, with Rahul Dravid on 11. New Zealand held the firm prospect of saving the three-Test series after being whipped in the first Test by 10 wickets.
On a wicket that offered the bowlers no encouragement and on which New Zealand managed 619-9, including two centuries and a double ton, none of the galaxy of Indian stars was able to perform to their vintage standards.
Central to the proceedings was the golden touch of Ryder, the batsman who top scored for New Zealand with 201.
When New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori had exhausted his recognized bowling options to break up the Indian fifth-wicket partnership of Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman, he asked the burly batsman to reprise his part-time, medium-pace role.
Ryder duly obliged and dismissed Dravid for 83 with the last ball of his first over.
He then snapped up two catches in the slips as Chris Martin and Iain O’Brien took the new ball and ripped out the Indian tail.
Martin, who finished with the best New Zealand figures of three for 89, described the burly Ryder as a special talent.
“To look at him, you wouldn’t think he can do half the things that he does, but he can,” Martin said. “He feeds off having that golden touch, which is something that we all know he has and when he has the ball something can happen and again today he lulled a guy who was batting nicely into a bad shot. That sums the guy up.”
Laxman put a positive spin on the situation for India and said they had the opportunity to do something special.
“We have done some amazing things in the past and we take a lot of confidence from what we achieved in the past,” Laxman said, referring to the England Test last December when India produced the fourth-highest run chase in history.
India resumed the third day at 79-3 and progressed to 165 when Sachin Tendulkar fell for 49 in the morning session, caught at slip by Ross Taylor off Jeetan Patel.
Dravid and Laxman attempted to consolidate the innings and compiled a steady 81-run partnership as they settled in for a marathon rescue operation, before Ryder struck.
When Ryder’s sixth delivery came down short and wide, Dravid shaped to cut and edged the ball straight to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, ending his 206-ball innings that lasted 282 minutes and included 12 boundaries.
Martin followed with his 150th Test wicket with the last ball before tea when Yuvraj Singh had his feet wrongly planted for an intended cover drive and edged the ball to Tim McIntosh at second slip to be gone without scoring.
Ryder was back in the spotlight, replacing McIntosh as the slip catcher when Dinesh Karthik fell to Martin in similar fashion.
Karthik’s departure brought a flurry of runs as Harbhajan Singh and Laxman cracked 21 in two overs, Harbhajan bringing up the Indian 300 with a six.
Martin ended their brief partnership when Laxman was caught by McIntosh for 76 and O’Brien polished off the innings with the wickets of Harbhajan (18) and Zaheer Khan (8) in successive balls.
Vettori enforced the follow on, but O’Brien was denied the hat-trick by Virender Sehwag.
But it was to be a brief bash by the Indian opener who raced to 22 in 21 deliveries, including four boundaries, when he was trapped plumb in front trying to sweep off-spinner Patel out of the ground.
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