Hyderabad, Nov. 15: New Zealand held the upper hand for most part on Monday thanks to an unbeaten century by Brendon McCullum but Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men did some leg work in the final session to trip them up and pull level going into the last day of the second Test here.

At 237/4 in the second innings, the visitors have a lead of 115 runs with six wickets in hand. An early assault in the first session on Tuesday could set the game up for the hosts at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

After Harbhajan Singh hogged the first session’s honours by smacking his second successive Test century (111 not out, 7x4, 7x6) to ensure a 122-run lead for India, the Kiwis replied strongly.

Openers Tim McIntosh (49) and McCullum (batting 124) had wiped out the deficit when left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha accounted for the former, caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg. Pujara was standing in for seamer Zaheer Khan, who left the field after bowling just 4.3 overs owing to abdominal pain, to deplete the Indian attack.

McCullum was the mainstay for the Kiwis. He blocked one end to keep the Indians at bay, literally. Dhoni strangely set a spread out field that allowed his opponents to steadily chip away.

McCullum was authoritative as he displayed superb timing to spank the bowlers to the boundary 11 times. Those stinging shots were complemented by three aerial hits — two off Harbhajan and another one off Ojha — that sailed out of the playing area. And the reverse sweeps off frontline spinner Bhajji provided sufficient evidence of McCullum’s confidence during his five-and-a-half-hour effort.

The others were not half as good though. Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder lost their wickets post-tea, and that could prove decisive.

Earlier, Harbhajan brought up his much cherished century in the seventh over of the day as he turned Tim Southee for a single to set off celebrations all around. Bhajji’s joy knew no bounds as he kept running, past the non-striker’s crease before leaping and punching the air in ecstasy. Then, he sent a ‘thank you’ skywards before pointing high, perhaps an indication of where he was — in seventh heaven.

The prolonged Kiwi agony ended after captain Daniel Vettori finally succeeded in getting his fifth wicket, that of No. 11 Sreesanth. He bowled 18.4 overs for his fifth wicket.

The Indian innings lasted 43 minutes on Monday but Bhajji and Sreesanth had put together 105 to post the third best stand for the 10th wicket for India — Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan have 133 (vs Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004) while Hemu Adhikari and Ghulam Ahmed raised 109 in Delhi against Pakistan in 1952.

Harbhajan also became the top run-getter in the series with an aggregate of 295 runs, ahead of recognised batsmen such as Virender Sehwag, V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid. He has a mind-boggling average for 147.50 from three innings.

Scoreboard
New Zealand
1st innings 350
India 1st innings
(overnight 436/9)
Harbhajan Singh n.o. 111, S. Sreesanth lbw b Vettori 24.
Extras: (b-4, lb-8, nb-1, w-1) 14
Total (in 143.4 overs) 472
FoW: 1-160, 2-160, 3-184, 4-259, 5-311, 6-326, 7-336, 8-355, 9-367, 10-472.
Bowling: Martin 29-6-87-1, Southee 33-6-119-3, Arnel 24-5-79-0, Vettori 49.4-7-135-5, Williamson 7-0-31-0, Taylor 1-0-9-0.
New Zealand 2nd innings
T. McIntosh c sub (Pujara) b Ojha 49, B. McCullum batting 124, M. Guptill c Dhoni b Ojha 18, R. Taylor b Sreesanth 7, J. Ryder c Dhoni b Raina 20, K. Williamson batting 12.
Extras: (b-2, nb-3, w-2) 7
Total (in 75 overs) 237/4
FoW: 1-125, 2-174, 3-187, 4-221.
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 4.3-1-12-0, Sreesanth 17-3-70-1, Ojha 25.3-8-60-2, Harbhajan 23-2-79-0, Tendulkar 2-0-7-0, Raina 3-0-7-1.

Pic Caption:
Tim McIntosh in action during the fourth day of the second Test in Hyderabad on Monday.