Stumps on Day 3
Jesse Ryder stuck his third test hundred while Kane Williamson is approaching a century on Test Debut as the Kiwis finished Day 3 at a handsome 331 for 5. India's hopes of winning this match are still alive especially when Sreesanth got the ball to swing back late to hit Ryder's pad plumb infront of middle just before the close of play.
It was a superb partnership between Ryder and Williamson which was worth 194 runs. The pair batted the entire final session and barring the one or two half chances, the Kiwi batsmen were under control. New Zealand have avoided the follow on comfortably and are trailing behind by 156 runs.
Tea on Day 3
Jesse Ryder and Kane Williamson batted through the entire afternoon session to stage New Zealand's fightback in this Test Match with their unbeaten fourth wicket stand of 100. Ryder has struck his 5th Test fifty while debutant Kane Williamson is approaching his maiden fifty.
For some reason, the over rate was very slow in this session with India bowling only 26 overs and the Kiwis added 89 runs without losing a single wicket. India had taken the second new ball as and when it was available in the 81st over. By the close of this post afternoon session, Ryder has moved onto 53 from 108 balls with 6 fours and Williamson is on 45 from 109 balls with 4 fours. New Zealand have moved to 237 for 4 in 82 overs.
Lunch on Day 3
New Zealand batted well for more than an hour in the first session of Day 3 but when they lost their two well set overnight batsmen - Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, the door has again opened up to expose their inexperienced batting line up. The visitors are struggling at 148 for 4 in 56 overs and still facing a deficit of 339 runs. India had to work hard for these two wickets but they kept the scoring rate well under a check.
Ross Taylor was the first to be dismissed when he carelessly failed to get to the pitch of the ball in a flick shot off Harbhajan Singh to give a simple catch to Laxman at mid wicket. Taylor couldn't convert his 9th Test fifty into a century as he fell for 56 which came in 124 balls with 6 fours. He put on 104 runs for the 3rd wicket with McCullum before getting out in the 45th over. Around five overs later, a well set Brendon McCullum was beaten by a magical turner from Pragyan Ojha which pitched on middle and went onto beat the angled blade of the right hander. McCullum's backleg was dragged onto the line for a long time and MS Dhoni stumped him in a flash.
McCullum scored his 17th Test fifty, 65 from 122 balls with 11 fours before falling 20 minutes to go before lunch. At the crease are the two inexperienced Jesse Ryder (6*) and debutant Kane Williamson (5*).
