Kiwis caught up in a spin

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If Cheteshwar Pujara ensured the crowd did not miss Rahul Dravid on the first day, R. Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha made sure Harbhajan Singh was not on their minds on the second.

The spinners wove a web around New Zealand to trap them at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Friday. With the Kiwis reeling at 106/5 in the first innings, still trailing the hosts by 332 runs, one wonders if the game will go the full distance.
Ashwin (3/30) and Ojha (2/35) posed multiple problems to the visitors, who clearly haven’t got their math right. They still need 133 runs with five wickets in hand to avoid the follow on.
After India was all out for 438 at the stroke of tea, New Zealand began well. Brendon McCullum drove the first ball delivered by Zaheer Khan scorching through cover to the boundary. But that was about the only positive of the Kiwi innings as Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni employed his spinners at the first turn. He introduced left-armer Ojha as early as in the eighth over and got the reward off the third ball – the dangerous McCullum failed to keep a drive down and Virat Kohli at point took an easy catch to end his 27-ball 22.
By the 11th over, a tactical Dhoni activated spin at both ends. Ashwin got Martin Guptill off the first ball he bowled, Kohli again the catcher, this time at leg-slip. Kohli then stooped low to gobble up Kiwi captain Ross Taylor off Ashwin. New Zealand 55 for 4. It would have been worse had Virender Sehwag matched Kohli’s agility in the lone slip. Kane Williamson’s edge off Ashwin landed right in front of his left boot as Sehwag was a shade slow in getting down for the catch when the batsman was on 13. But he made amends though by holding on to another offering at comfortable height at second slip to dismiss the same batsman, at 32, towards the close of play. It also broke the 44-run stand for the fifth wicket with James Franklin, unbeaten on 31.
Earlier, India batted in contrasting styles in the two sessions they lasted – while they scored 64 runs in 21 overs without losing a wicket by lunch, they lost all five wickets in hand for a mere 67 runs between lunch and tea.
Overnight batsmen Pujara (159) and Dhoni (73, 210m, 147b, 6x4, 1x6) carried on from where they had left on Thursday and put on 111 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket by lunch. Dhoni brought up his 25th Test half-century in the process. Pujara too reached his 150. After the break, runs began to flow at a faster clip. Dhoni blocking a few balls before jumping out of his crease to hit Jeetan Patel straight back and Pujara leaning backwards to cut Martin to the point fence indicated the hosts’ intentions of upping the ante. It came with a rackful of risks though.
Soon, the overnight centurion fell trying to force the pace of the innings. Pujara wanted to send off-spinner Jeetan Patel out of the ground only managed a skier for James Franklin to pouch at mid-on to end his 306-ball marathon spread over 458 minutes.
That triggered the procession to the pavilion. Dhoni was the next to go. He couldn’t keep a shot down and offered a simple catch to Doug Bracewell at mid-off to give Patel his second wicket of the day.
Ashwin, who contributed a decent 37, Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav then fell in quick session as the Indian innings wound up.