A heroic stand of 137 in nearly 11 hours at the crease by Gautam Gambhir ensured the second Test between India and New Zealand ended in a draw on Monday. When Gambhirs match-saving, marathon performance came to an end he had batted through three days play and rescued his side from a perilous situation.
After New Zealand made 619-9 declared, India were in strife when they were rolled for 305 in their first innings and lost their opening second innings wicket at 30 when asked to follow on.
But Gambhir, in his 24th Test, was unfazed by the carnage and set about a rescue mission that lasted 642 minutes and ended with India all but safe. It was left to VVS Laxman on 124, the 14th century of his Test career, and Yuvraj Singh on 54 to bat out the last two hours and get India across the line.
They were 162 runs ahead and their 1-0 series lead was intact when time was called 70 minutes early. India, who won the first Test by a handsome 10 wickets, have not won a series in New Zealand in 40 years.
New Zealand have one chance left to salvage a draw from this three-game series when the final match starts in Wellington on Friday. The second Test was played on an extremely placid wicket with the bowling damage concentrated in one 26-over burst on the third day when New Zealand ripped out six wickets for just 58 runs. With conditions against the bowlers, the five days of cricket produced 1,400 runs including a double century, four centuries and seven half-centuries.
Jesse Ryder, who made 201 and was on the field for all but three hours of the Test, was the man-of-the-match, but Gambhirs second innings response for India, when he came in on Saturday and departed on Monday, was exemplary. That he scored 64 fewer runs than Ryder mattered little to India. Of more importance was that he soaked up 153 more minutes of playing time than the New Zealander. His dogged fifth Test century was the seventh longest stand by an Indian, though it was also the lowest score among the top 30 innings of endurance by Indian batsmen.
"Hes the only one who saved the game for us," said Indian captain Virender Sehwag. "I think we can call him the second wall," he added, acknowledging also veteran run-maker Rahul Dravid, with innings of 83 and 62, who is known as "The Wall" for his stoic performances.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori saw only positives for the way his side turned a first Test hiding into a second encounter that his team mostly dominated. Laxman and Yuvraj opened up in the final session when the result was beyond doubt and the umpires called an end to the game 70 minutes early. Gambhir increased his overnight score by just 35 in three hours before his near chanceless innings was undone by Jeetan Patel with a ball that straightened and hit the pads plumb in front of the wicket.
-- New Zealand 1st innings: 619-9 dec (J.Ryder 201, R. Taylor 151, B. McCullum --- 112, D. Vettori 55, J. Franklin 52; I. Sharma 3-95, Z. Khan 3-129)
-- India first innings: 305 (R. Dravid 83, V. Laxman 76; C. Martin 3-89)
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India 2nd innings (overnight 252-2)
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G. Gambhir lbw Patel 137
V. Sehwag lbw Patel 22
R. Dravid c How b Vettori 62
S. Tendulkar c McCullum b Martin 64
V. Laxman not out 124
Y. Singh not out 54
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Extras: (b 9, lb 1, nb 3) 13
Total: (4 wickets; 180 overs) 476
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