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 Ahmedabad,
Oct 12: Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle upset India's applecart with
gritty unbeaten knocks as the first cricket Test ended in a tame
draw on the fifth and final day here today. All the good work of
India was reduced to a naught by the duo who put on 103 runs for the
seventh wicket to salvage a draw for their team which had been on
the backfoot for most part of the match. It was a frustrating
outcome for India who looked very much in sight of a win when they
had reduced New Zealand to 169 for six by tea today.
But the Kiwis
showed remarkable character and resilience, epitomised by McMillan
(83) and Astle (51), to fight back and deny India a victory. While
New Zealand would now go into the second and final Test starting in
Mohali on October 16 with a positive frame of mind, Indian skipper
Sourav Ganguly would be worried by the fact that his bowlers could
not finish off New Zealand's second innings in more than three full
sessions of play. The drab final session saw little action as the
Indian bowlers failed to separate McMillan and Astle, who had both
missed New Zealand's last tour to Sri Lanka due to injuries.
 There
was no support for Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, who shared all
the six second innings wickets to fall between them, from speedsters
Zaheer Khan and L Balaji. Ace leg-spinner Kumble turned out to be
the most successful with four wickets in his kitty while Harbhajan
scalped two but their efforts did not prove enough for bowling out
the Kiwis who were set a target of 370 runs with more than a day's
play at hand. The task was never easy for the visitors, struggling
often to counter the heat and humidity on a pitch that favoured
none, but they did well to defy the odds through some great
individual efforts.
 Once
India scored 500 runs, built around the double century by 'The Wall'
Rahul Dravid before declaring their first innings, New Zealand knew
they would need some similar extraordinary efforts to bail them out.
Astle, who has to his credit the record of scoring the fastest ever
double century in Tests, was the first to the rescue of his team and
later the Kiwis found an unexpected saviour in tailender Daniel
Vettori (60) as they avoided the follow-on mark of 300 runs before
being bowled out for 340. Ganguly showed he was in no mood to let
slip India's advantage when he made a sporting second innings
declaration at 209 for six after the batsmen had scored at more than
four runs an over to pile up some quick runs. Dravid, declared
man-of-the-match, again shone with the bat scoring a stroke-filled
73.
The 370-run target
meant the Kiwis decided to go defensive and play out for a draw, a
task neatly accomplished in the end. The Kiwis, who were 48
overnight and had lost opener Mark Richardson for 21 in the 20 overs
that they batted yesterday, started positively this morning with
nightwatchman Daryl Tuffey and Lou Vincent taking the score to 68
when Kumble struck to dismiss Tuffey for eight. It was the most
productive first session for India as they allowed New Zealand to
add just 53 runs to their overnight total while scalping three
wickets in the process. Kumble's success charged up Harbhajan Singh,
bowling from the other end, as the off-spinner tightened his line
and length to make the Kiwi batsmen struggle for every run.
 The
relentless spin attack from both ends proved to be too much for the
batsmen and they started erring in their shot selection. Harbhajan
was rewarded with the prized wicket of New Zealand skipper Stephen
Fleming with the total reading 85. Fleming, who had failed in the
first innings as well, played a poor shot and V V S Laxman at silly
point took a fine catch to dismiss the Kiwi captain for a 31-ball 8.
Indians had more reasons to celebrate when new man Scott Styris was
sent back to the pavilion just a run later by Kumble. It was one of
the faster deliveries from the ace leg spinner that did the trick
and had the all-rounder trapped leg before wicket for a duck.
Having been reduced
to 86 for four, the onus was now on Vincent and McMillan to steady
the boat and they held on till the lunch break. Vincent looked in
good touch en route to his 67 (184 b, 9x4) but he succumbed to a
poor shot and played on a Kumble delivery to his stumps as New
Zealand were reduced to 150 for five. Oram (7) departed 19 runs
later when he was caught by Dravid off Harbhajan Singh as India
charged at the Kiwis with renewed vigour.
However, India's
exuberance proved to be short-lived as McMillan and Astle got
together to pull the rug from under their feet. McMillan did a
commendable job in curbing his natural aggressive instinct and
played according to what the situation demanded. He hit eight fours
and seemed content with just playing defensive through his 191-ball
knock. But he did hit two fours in an over by Kumble towards the fag
end of the match. Astle also chose not to be too adventurous and
batted sensibly for his 135-ball 51 which also included eight fours.
Scorecard
(Agencies)
Published: Wednesday, October
12, 2003
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