AHMEDABAD, India, (Reuters) – Harbhajan Singh emerged as India’s unlikely batting hero when he scored his maiden hundred to bail the hosts out of a tight situation for a draw in the first test against New Zealand yesterday.
The right-handed batsman, who had hit a career-best 69 in the first innings, combined in a 163-run partnership with Vangipurappu Laxman for the seventh wicket, and put paid to any hopes the visitors had of winning.
A fiery spell of fast bowling by Chris Martin had reduced India to 15 for five on Sunday, and it required a dogged innings from the dependable Laxman (91) and the unlikely Harbhajan (115) to arrest the collapse.
Resuming on a precarious 82 for six, India finished their second innings on 266, setting New Zealand an improbable target of 295 runs from 24 overs.
The visitors lost Tim McIntosh, who went for a golden duck, to Zaheer Khan and reached 22 for one before the captains settled for a draw.
Harbhajan brought up his maiden test century by lofting New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori over the long-off boundary to bring the sparse crowd for the final day’s action at the Sardar Patel Stadium to their feet.
He then celebrated by mimicking the batting stance of his team mate and scorer of 49-test centuries Sachin Tendulkar, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, who were seen laughing on the dressing-room balcony.
Harbhajan danced down the wicket to pacer Martin and reverse swept the spinners, to hit 10 fours and three huge sixes in his knock.
“I never dreamt I would be man of the match in test matches for my batting. But it’s fantastic to get my first test hundred,” Harbhajan said at the presentation ceremony.
“I just wanted to stay there with Laxman. It was for him I got the hundred.”
Laxman and Zaheer (0) fell in consecutive deliveries from left-arm spinner Vettori, to dubious leg before decisions by umpire Steve Davis.
Television replays appeared to show that on both occasions the batsmen had managed an inside edge before the ball hit their pads.
The New Zealand bowlers, hampered by injuries to Hamish Bennett and Jesse Ryder, were unlucky earlier in the day as they found a number of edges only to watch the ball land short of their fielders.
DRAB DRAW
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was disappointed with the draw and hoped conditions at the next match would suit the bowlers a bit more.
“It was very difficult to get wickets here especially if you were willing to play patiently. There was not much turn, also not the kind of reverse swing to get batsmen out,” Dhoni said.
“We played our part to make this match interesting by losing those five wickets and then having to save the test match.
“We are expecting there would be a bit more reverse swing, a bit more turn and bounce for the bowlers in Hyderabad. We don’t really want matches to end in draws.”
The second test is in Hyderabad from Nov. 12-16 while the third and final test will be played in Nagpur from Nov. 20-24.
Scoreboard
India first innings 487 (V. Sehwag 173, R. Dravid 104, H. Singh 69; D. Vettori 4-118)
New Zealand first innings 459 (B. McCullum 65, R. Taylor 56, J. Ryder 103, K. Williamson 131; P. Ojha 4-107)
Scoreboard
India second innings (overnight 82-6)
G. Gambhir c Hopkins b Martin 0
V. Sehwag run out 1
R. Dravid c Hopkins b Martin 1
S. Tendulkar b Martin 12
VVS Laxman lbw b Vettori 91
S. Raina c Taylor b Martin 0
MS Dhoni b Martin 22
H. Singh c Watling b Taylor 115
Z. Khan lbw b Vettori 0
P. Ojha not out 9
S. Sreesanth c Hopkins b Taylor 4
Extras (b-10, nb-1) 11
Total (all out; 102.4 overs) 266
Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-1 3-2 4-15 5-15 6-65 7-228 8-228 9-260 10-266
Bowling: Martin 27-8-63-5 (1nb), Vettori 38-8-81-2, Patel 23-1-72-0, Williamson 4-0-18-0, Taylor 4.4-2-4-2, McCullum 6-1-18-0.
New Zealand second innings
T. McIntosh lbw b Khan 0
B. McCullum not out 11
BJ Watling not out 2
Extras (b-4, w-5) 9
Total (one wicket; 10 overs) 22
Fall of wicket: 1-4
Bowling: Khan 4-2-7-1, Sreesanth 1-0-4-0, Ojha 3-2-1-0, Raina 1-0-1-0, Dhoni 1-0-5-0 (1w)
Result: Match drawn
Player of the match: Harbhajan Singh (India)
