A dogged 158-run stand by century-maker Brendon McCullum and B.J. Watling kept New Zealand alive in the second Test against India yesterday, although the odds still favor the tourists.
After New Zealand looked on the ropes at 94-5, McCullum and Watling ensured India will have to bat again as they wiped out the 246-run first-innings deficit to reach 252-5 at stumps on the third day. McCullum, who brought up his ninth Test century with a powerful six off Ishant Sharma, was on 114, with Watling on 52.
However, despite their heroic partnership, New Zealand will likely need to bat through the fourth day, with only a brittle tail to come, if they are to deny India a series-leveling victory.
Photo: Reuters
“Being five down was key for us. If we had been six or seven down I think the Test was over,” McCullum said. “To be honest, we would probably need a double-century to keep us in this game. If B.J. and I can emulate what we did today tomorrow, then tomorrow night it will be great to be able to make some decisions about where the game will go rather than trying to fight out of it.”
It has been an impressive innings by McCullum, who became only the fifth New Zealander to pass 5,000 Test runs.
Despite his reputation as a punishing batsman, he showed that when the chips are down he can graft away for the good of the team.
He faced 146 deliveries to bring up his half-century, reaching the milestone sweeping Ravindra Jadeja to the square-leg boundary, before upping the pace to cover the second 50 in only 54 balls.
As the score mounted, India were left to rue missed chances when McCullum was dropped on 9 by Virat Kohli at short mid-on, and then on 36 when Sharma put down a caught-and-bowled opportunity.
At the other end, Watling proved the ideal companion as the pair posted a record sixth-wicket partnership for New Zealand against India, eclipsing the 137 set by Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan in 1998.
Watling, who brought up his seventh half-century, has faced 208 deliveries for his patient 52.
India, looking for their first win on tour after losing the first Test by 40 runs and being beaten in the one-day international series 4-0, won a crucial toss to roll New Zealand for 192 on a green wicket in the first innings.
They replied with an impressive 438 for a 246-run lead, which New Zealand struggled to reel in until McCullum and Watling mounted their rearguard action.
After resuming yesterday on 24-1, New Zealand lost three wickets before lunch — two to Zaheer Khan who had figures of three for 60.
Kane Williamson was caught behind for 7 and Hamish Rutherford was also caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for 35 as New Zealand slipped to 52-3.
Debutant Tom Latham, who made a duck in the first innings, looked more assured the second time around — until he reached 29, when he prodded at a wide Mohammed Shami delivery and was caught behind.
Corey Anderson went for 2 shortly after lunch, caught and bowled by Jadeja, before McCullum and Watling batted through more than 61 overs and weathered the new ball to get New Zealand through to stumps.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but