India Vs New Zealand, Day 3, 1st Test at Hyderabad – Report by BV Swagath
Update at 3:00 PM: Heavy downpour in the afternoon forced the third day’s play to be washed out with the Kiwis staring at a defeat. New Zealand need 238 more runs to avoid an innings defeat with 9 wickets in hand.
Update at 2:00 PM: Bad light and a possible heavy shower expected to come down any moment has halted proceedings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. New Zealand were fighting hard in their second innings at 41 for 1 in 18 overs after being asked to follow on by Dhoni.
Brendon McCullum with 16* (from 59 balls) is holding the fort for the Kiwis along with the young Kane Williamson (3*). The only wicket to go down was that of Martin Guptill in the 15th over when the tall right hander offered no shot and padded up to a full ball from Pragyan Ojha which was angled in but would have turned away to miss the off stump.
Update at Lunch on Day 3: New Zealand have been asked to follow on under overcast conditions on Day 3 of the Hyderabad Test. This was after they were bundled out for a paltry 159 in 61.3 overs. The tourists are facing quite a huge deficit of 279 runs. The Kiwi bottom half was demolished in the one and a half hour morning session.
R Ashwin, who picked up three wickets yesterday evening added three more today to finish with a rich bag of 6 for 31 in just 16.3 overs. India got an early wicket in the session when Wicket Keeper Kruger van Wyk (0) missed a pull shot off a short ball from Umesh Yadav which stayed low to have him lbw infront of off. Doug Bracewell (17), who came in next looked good until he foolishly left the crease to Pragyan Ojha on a turning pitch to get beaten all ends up for a stumping.
Dhoni gave a late introduction to Ashwin on the third day but straightaway in his first over took a brilliant low catch off his own bowling to dismiss Jeetan Patel (10). Ashwin then had Trent Boult inside edging a flick to short leg and cleaned up no.11 Chris Martin for a first ball duck with a straighter one past the defences. Ashwin will be on a hat-trick in the second innings as he has got two wickets in two balls before wrapping up the Kiwi first innings. James Franklin remained unbeaten for the Kiwis with a fighting 43* (from 122 balls).
Update at 10:00 AM: The Umpires have decided that play will begin at 10:30 AM and that it can go on till 5:30 PM. We are going to see 7 overs lost because of the rain. The forecast is for more rain though and we should see periods of sunshine and rain all through the day.
Build Up to Day 3: We are going to have a wet start on Day 3 in the opening Test at Hyderabad. Again like yesterday, it’s not like we are having a heavy shower as of now but on and off drizzle. There could have been some overnight rain as well, although on the lighter side. Conditions remain to be extremely overcast. The ground is not entirely covered and the curator says that it should take only an hour for play to resume in case of heavy rain.
As far as the match situation is concerned, New Zealand are already staring at defeat having lost five wickets cheaply to the Indian spin twins. There is not much of promise shown by the Kiwis against the turning and jumping ball except for Kane Williamson. If the weather holds good, the Test match should be wrapped up without going into the fifth day.
