As rain comes into play in the final day of the third and final Test, umpires called off the Wellington match and India went on to winning the match 1-0 in the three-match Test series. India won a series in New Zealand after 41 years.
The Kiwis were 281/8, chasing the mammoth 617, in their second innings when light showers stopped play 30 minutes after lunch. Just the resumption of game after lunch, Harbhajan dismissed Tim Southee in the second over to bring New Zealand down to 258/8.
India needed just the last two wickets, however, rain denied to register a historic 2-0 series win. Ian O'Brien (19) and New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori (15) were at the crease.
However in the fourth day, it was Sachin Tendulkar who brought India closer to win by claiming two crucial wickets. The master batsman who swung his arms for the first time in the tour removed Brendon McCullum (6) and then James Franklin (49).
Earlier Harbhajan managed to get the wicket of Ross Taylor (107) after the Kiwi reached his century resuming from an individual overnight score of 69.
Gautam Gambhir was declared both Man of the Match and Man of the Series for his excellent performance through out the series.
Brief Score:
India 1st Innings: 379 all out [V. Sehwag 48, Dravid 35, Tendulkar 62, Dhoni 52, Harbhajan Singh 60, Zaheer Khan 33] New Zealand Bowling: Chris Martin 4/98, Tim Southee 2/94, Iain O'Brien 2/89
New Zealand 1st Innings: 197 all out in 65 overs [McIntosh 32, Taylor 42, McCullum 24] India Bowling: Zaheer Khan 5/65, Harbhajan Singh 3/43
India 2nd Innings: 434 for seven declared NZ bowling: Martin 3/ 70, O'Brien 2/100 and Vettori 2/108
New Zealand 2nd Innings: 281 for 8 (Rain halts play in the fifth day) India Bowling: Zaheer Khan 2/47, Harbhajan Singh 4/59, Sachin Tendulkar 2/45
Result: Match Drawn
The Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel. 12th man: Dinesh Karthik
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum (wicketkeeper), Tim Southee, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin. 12th man: Jeetan Patel
|
|
Comments:
