Hyderabad: Virender Sehwag smashed an entertaining 96 and Gautam Gambhir hit 54 before New Zealand removed both the openers on day two of the second Test against India on Saturday.
Sehwag unleashed 15 fours and a six in his 120-ball knock and added 160 runs for the opening wicket with Gambhir to steer India to 178-2 at close in reply to New Zealand's first-innings 350. At stumps, Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 11 while Rahul Dravid was on seven.
The day's last session belonged to Sehwag, who underlined his dominance over the Kiwi bowlers with a dazzling array of shots on either side of the wicket after a cautious start to his innings. The Delhi batsman, who top-scored with 173 in the drawn first Test in Ahmedabad, hit a six and two fours in an over by part-timer Kane Williamson to enthrall a nearly 15,000 crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
Sehwag was trapped leg before wicket by Daniel Vettori as he tried to slog-sweep the left-arm spinner, shortly before curtains were drawn on a thrilling day of cricket. "It was sad to see Sehwag miss a century," said Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
"But he is a team man and is never bothered about his personal milestones. He has set the tone of our innings with his aggressive shot-making. We will now look to rack up a good first innings total and put pressure on New Zealand."
Gambhir managed to score his first Test half-century in 10 months but edged paceman Tim Southee to wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins after facing 129 balls, seven of which were dispatched to the fence for fours.
Earlier, left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan (4-69) and Harbhajan (4-76) claimed four wickets each to bowl out the tourists early in the second session. Zaheer struck in his opening spell, removing Hopkins and first Test centurion Williamson, who was caught plumb in front as he tried to drive the ball to the leg-side.
"We had a bad first session," said New Zealand's Jesse Ryder. "India bowled very well, especially Zaheer. He bowled a lovely first spell. We had a fine opening day. But in the end, I think we fell 100 runs short of what could have been a good total on this wicket."
Harbhajan took his first wicket of the match when he claimed Vettori lbw for 11, New Zealand slipping to 312-7 from the overnight 258-4. Ryder (70) continued his fine form, reaching his fifth Test half-century with a pulled four over backward point off fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
The left-handed batsman, who made 103 in Ahmedabad, has scored all of his three Test centuries against India, including a career-best 201. But his dream of scoring a big one again was shattered by Harbhajan, who had him caught at first slip by Venkatsai Laxman, playing his first Test on his home ground. Ryder struck 10 fours in his 120-ball innings.
Harbhajan then removed tailenders Tim Southee and Chris Martin to wrap up the New Zealand first innings. The third and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 20-24.
Sehwag unleashed 15 fours and a six in his 120-ball knock and added 160 runs for the opening wicket with Gambhir to steer India to 178-2 at close in reply to New Zealand's first-innings 350. At stumps, Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 11 while Rahul Dravid was on seven.
The day's last session belonged to Sehwag, who underlined his dominance over the Kiwi bowlers with a dazzling array of shots on either side of the wicket after a cautious start to his innings. The Delhi batsman, who top-scored with 173 in the drawn first Test in Ahmedabad, hit a six and two fours in an over by part-timer Kane Williamson to enthrall a nearly 15,000 crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
Sehwag was trapped leg before wicket by Daniel Vettori as he tried to slog-sweep the left-arm spinner, shortly before curtains were drawn on a thrilling day of cricket. "It was sad to see Sehwag miss a century," said Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
"But he is a team man and is never bothered about his personal milestones. He has set the tone of our innings with his aggressive shot-making. We will now look to rack up a good first innings total and put pressure on New Zealand."
Gambhir managed to score his first Test half-century in 10 months but edged paceman Tim Southee to wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins after facing 129 balls, seven of which were dispatched to the fence for fours.
Earlier, left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan (4-69) and Harbhajan (4-76) claimed four wickets each to bowl out the tourists early in the second session. Zaheer struck in his opening spell, removing Hopkins and first Test centurion Williamson, who was caught plumb in front as he tried to drive the ball to the leg-side.
"We had a bad first session," said New Zealand's Jesse Ryder. "India bowled very well, especially Zaheer. He bowled a lovely first spell. We had a fine opening day. But in the end, I think we fell 100 runs short of what could have been a good total on this wicket."
Harbhajan took his first wicket of the match when he claimed Vettori lbw for 11, New Zealand slipping to 312-7 from the overnight 258-4. Ryder (70) continued his fine form, reaching his fifth Test half-century with a pulled four over backward point off fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
The left-handed batsman, who made 103 in Ahmedabad, has scored all of his three Test centuries against India, including a career-best 201. But his dream of scoring a big one again was shattered by Harbhajan, who had him caught at first slip by Venkatsai Laxman, playing his first Test on his home ground. Ryder struck 10 fours in his 120-ball innings.
Harbhajan then removed tailenders Tim Southee and Chris Martin to wrap up the New Zealand first innings. The third and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 20-24.
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