India on driver’s seat but rain plays spoilsport against kiwi’s on first test

Hyderabad: Rain God comes in the rescue of Kiwi’s on the third day of first test match betwenn India and New Zeland. However the visitors are playing follow-on and they are still 239 runs behind to avoid innings defeat.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s career-best figures of six for 31 and pragyan ojha’s 3 foro 44 helped India to take a huge 279-run first innings lead.

In the second innings New Zealand were 41 for one when umpires decided to call
off play. Only 37.3 overs of play was possible on the day.
New Zealand still require 239 runs to erase the deficit which looks highly unlikely until the ‘Weather Gods’ intervene like it did on Saturday.

Resuming at 106 for five on day three, the Kiwis lost their remaining wickets at the stroke of lunch with the ‘spin twins’ Ashwin and Ojha wrapping it up in quick time. Only 19.3 overs were required to take the remaining five New Zealand wickets.

Ashwin returned with brilliant figures of 16.3-3-31-6 to better his previous best of 6/47 against the West Indies. It was his third five-wicket haul.

Ojha was also brilliant, giving Ashwin a perfect support, with three for 44 from his 21 overs that also included six maidens.

India duly enforced the follow-on at lunch after the New Zealand fell short by 80 runs to make the hosts bat again.

James Franklin gave the only resistance from an otherwise shoddy New Zealand display to remain not out on 43 (122 balls; 1×4, 1×6).

Yadav gave the first breakthrough in Kruger van Wyk with a delivery that skidded through. Van Wyk went for a non-existent pull-shot as the delivery kept low hitting him plumb in-front.

But it were Indian spinners who wreaked havoc as the inexperienced visitors found it very tough to negotiate the variable bounce and turn.

Ojha began the proceedings and had superb first spell figures of 5-1-9-1 as he took his third wicket in the process dismissing Doug Bracewell.

The Kiwi medium-pacer went down the track but missed the line completely for a customary stumping by Dhoni with New Zealand reeling at 141/7.

Ashwin was introduced in the 16th over of the day, and like Friday, he got into action straightway taking a wicket in his very first over of the day when he dismissed Jeetan Patel with his third delivery.

A brilliant return catch off his own bowling saw Patel back in the dressing room with New Zealand tottering at 153 for eight.

Ashwin was simply unplayable by the New Zealander tail-ender as the off-spinner took two wickets — Trent Boult and Chris Martin — in two deliveries to bundle out the visitors, 279 runs shy of India’s first innings total.

In their bid to survive, the visiting team openers McCullum and Martin Guptill employed a defensive approach scoring only nine runs in the first 10 overs.

The first boundary of the New Zealand’s innings came off the second ball of the 12th over when Guptill punished an Umesh Yadav delivery which was drifting down the leg-side.

In the very next over, Guptill looked to break free as he hit Ojha for two consecutive boundaries before getting a reprieve on 15.

The Kiwi opener was dropped at the second slip by Kohli who dived to his left but could not put his hand behind the ball.

But Guptill could not gain much from the ‘life’ as Ojha dismissed the Kiwi opener in his next over with trapping the batsman in front of the wicket to break the 26-run opening partnership.

Earlier, poor weather for the second time in two days had delayed the start of the proceedings as early morning downpour meant that the ground was covered and the start was one-hour behind schedule, forcing a deduction of seven overs.

A minimum of 83 overs was to be bowled in the day but the weather had other ideas.

On Friday the start was delayed by 26 minutes as the groundsmen were told to keep the covers on in anticipation of rain that never arrived.

The weather forcasters have predicted light rain and thundershowers for next three days, something that would frustrate the Indians who need nine more wickets to take 1-0 lead.

The second and final Test of the series will be held in Bangalore from August 31-September 4.