Daily Cricket News

VVS, Harbhajan help Ind draw first Test

Tailender Harbhajan Singh smashed his maiden century and VVS Laxman made a fine 91 as the first Test between India and New Zealand ended in a draw on Monday.

Harbhajan hit three sixes and 11 fours in his 115-run knock and shared 163 runs for the seventh wicket with Laxman to rescue the Indians from a precarious 6-65.

Their efforts took India to 266 all out in their second innings which left New Zealand with an improbable target of scoring 295 runs in 24 overs.

The Kiwis were 1-22 when the rival captains decided to call off the match an hour before the scheduled close at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The top-ranked Indians were indebted to the seventh-wicket pair of Laxman and Harbhajan who saved their blushes against a side placed a lowly eighth in the world cricket order.

Laxman, 36, showed remarkable poise during his nearly six-hour stay at the wicket, hitting nine fours in his 253-ball knock.

The veteran batsman, India's saviour in many a Test match, was adjudged leg before wicket by Australian umpire Steve Davis but TV replays showed the ball from Daniel Vettori had deflected off the bat.

Vettori claimed Zaheer off his next ball in similar fashion, although this time too there seemed to be an inside edge that was missed by Davis.

Harbhajan, playing his 88th Test, was nearly denied his feat by Chris Martin but the fast bowler failed to latch on to a sharp chance off his own bowling when the batsman was on 93.

He reached the 100-run mark in style, dancing down the track to loft Vettori over long-off for a huge six.

His remarkable innings came to an end when he top-edged a full-toss from part-timer Ross Taylor, who picked his first Test wicket.

Taylor, bowling in Tests for only the third time, claimed his second wicket when he had Shanthakumaran Sreesanth caught behind in his next over to bring an end to India's innings shortly after tea.

Harbhajan and Laxman denied a depleted New Zealand attack any success in the morning session after Martin ripped through the Indian top-order Sunday with his ninth five-wicket haul in Tests.

The pair started out cautiously but opened up later to play some aggressive shots on either side of the wicket, the highlight being a power-packed boundary by Harbhajan that flew over Martin's head.

Laxman, whose unbeaten 73 helped India defeat Australia in the Mohali Test last month, swept off-spinner Jeetan Patel for a four to complete his 47th half-century.

Harbhajan carried on with the form he showed in making 69 in India's first-innings 487, driving Martin (5-63) and Vettori (2-81) for fours to ignore any signs of pressure.

The Kiwis, laid low by injuries to pacemen Hamish Bennett (groin) and Jesse Ryder (calf), had made 459 in their first knock.

The second Test will be played in Hyderabad from November 12-16 and the third in Nagpur from November 20-24.