A record-breaking partnership brought centuries for Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder to steady New Zealand after a shaky start on day one of the second Test against India here Thursday. At stumps New Zealand were 351-4, with Ryder not out on 137 and Taylor back in the pavilion for 151 after the pairing put on 271 for the fourth wicket.
It was a record New Zealand fourth wicket stand against any country, and a record for any New Zealand partnership against India. There was an air of vulnerability about the Indian side for the first time in the series, as catch opportunities went begging and sloppy fielding gifted New Zealand boundaries.
It was a sharp turnaround in fortunes after India cleaned up the first Test by 10 wickets with a day to spare, and had New Zealand reeling at 23-3 at the start of the second Test. The three wickets fell in the space of just two runs and had Zaheer Khan on a hat-trick when Ryder joined Taylor in the middle. India could have had New Zealand at 31-4 but Yuvraj Singh dropped Taylor at third slip when he was on four.
It proved a costly miss. Taylor and Ryder added a further 263 before Yuvraj made amends by catching Taylor off Harbhajan Singh - but only just. After waiting an age, he miscalculated where the skied ball would come down and ending up diving to take the catch just above ground level.
Ryder continued with James Franklin, who was 26 not out at the close after being dropped by Yuvraj at slip when on seven. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss earlier and said it was a straightforward decision to bat on a flat brown pitch that offered the bowlers nothing.
But it looked early on as if New Zealand were in danger of repeating their first Test flop as three wickets fell in quick succession. The erratic Tim McIntosh was given out caught by replacement wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off Ishant Sharma for 12 while the recalled Jamie How lasted 11 deliveries before he was bowled by Zaheer for one.
Zaheer took Martin Guptill for eight with the first ball of his next over which was fended to a diving Virender Sehwag, the stand-in Indian captain, at gully. There were nervous moments on 99 when he edged one delivery that fell just in front of Rahul Dravid at slip, there was a close call on a Harbhajan Singh lbw appeal, and Ryder was nearly run out when pulling out of a possible quick single.
"Youd have thought it was my first hundred the way I was jumping around," Taylor said. But Taylor brought up his milestone from the next ball after the run mix-up, driving Zaheer wide of gully to the boundary in the final over before tea.
While "fairly happy with his days work," Taylor was disappointed to have been dismissed with a reckless shot. Sehwag said he had not raised his hopes too high when New Zealands openers crumbled. "We knew it was a good track and someone will get 100 here," he added. "Its a good track to bat on and nothing for the bowlers."
Ryder, who scored his maiden Test century against India last week, notched his 100 by driving Zaheer to the cover-point boundary. In more than five hours at the crease he hit 220 balls, hitting 17 boundaries and one six. New Zealand had made two changes from the first Test, with How in for the injured Daniel Flynn and off-spinner Jeetan Patel replacing out-of-sorts fast bowler Kyle Mills. Mahendra Singh Donhi pulled out of the Indian side before the toss with a back strain, bringing Karthik in as wicketkeeper with Sehwag taking over as captain.
SCOREBOARD:
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New Zealand 1st innings:
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M. Guptill c Sehwag b Khan 8
T. McIntosh c Karthik b Sharma 12
J. How b Khan 1
R. Taylor c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 151
J. Ryder not out 137
J. Franklin not out 26
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Extras: (b 6, lb 3, nb 7) 16
Total: (4 wickets; 90 overs) 351
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Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-22, 3-23, 4-294
To bat: Brendon McCullum (wkt), Daniel Vettori (capt), Jeetan Patel, Iain OBrien, Chris Martin.
Bowling: Khan 23-4-94-2 (4nb), Sharma 17-4-61-1, Patel 18-2-78-0 (2nb), Harbhajan Singh 26-6-61-1, Sehwag 5-0-34-0 (1nb), Yuvraj Singh 1-0-14-0
Toss: New Zealand
Series: India lead 1-0
Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS), Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Evan Watkin (NZL)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS).
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