It's never easy to bat during the closing hours of a day.......especially after being in the field for most part of two long days. More so when you are facing a staggering total of 619/9 d.
By setting up such a score, the Kiwis have ensured that they are not going to lose from here. It's Team India who has to do the catching up act all the time. Irrespective of the surface, the task is going to be all but uphill. And once you end the day at 79/3, without doubt you are looking down the barrel.
India finds itself in such a situation, thanks to some pedestrian bowling and mediocre fielding on day one. After being pushed on to the back foot right at the start, when the Kiwis were left tottering at 23/3, if they have managed to score such a mammoth total, it's not only due to exceptional batting, also they were ably supported by our fielders and bowlers.
Yuvraj dropped Taylor to start with and he went on to score 151, he dropped Franklin and he scored a fifty. And there were more.
The bowlers bowled their heart on a flat surface to create those opportunities, but seeing those early reprieves, they were always going to be frustrated. Then on the bowling was just not consistent enough.
To the credit of the Kiwis, they did really well to come back from a defeat and 3 wickets down and impose themselves on a strong opponent like India. Ryder has been a revelation, Taylor brilliant and Maccullum superb. Add to that fifties from James Franklin and Vettori, Sehwag's men were left panting.
The fact that Dhoni had to sit out, has not helped. He's sorely missed behind the stumps, as the captain and sure enough, Dinesh is no match for him as a batsman too.
Now India have their back against the wall and its up to Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman to guide their side out of trouble and save the match, the chance of winning being long gone. You can't pin your hopes on a struggling Yuvraj, hence it's the much famed "Fab three" now to lead the show.
On the other hand, it's certainly going to be interesting to see if this side is capable of pulling off a draw out of such a situation, and if they can, they would have proved their worth as the truly deserving challeger of Australia for the top ICC ranking.
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