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 Mohali,
Oct 16: Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson struck heroic centuries as
they joined hands to script a huge 231-run opening stand and put New
Zealand in complete control of the series-deciding second cricket
Test against India here today. The young Vincent's career-best 106
and his association with Mark Richardson (102 not out) virtually
left the Indians in a daze as the visitors ended the opening day at
a commanding first innings score of 247 for one. Electing to bat,
the two openers showed remarkable grit and resilience as they went
about providing the perfect launch pad for the Kiwis to not only put
the hosts under enormous pressure but also harbour hopes of
registering their first series win on Indian soil.
Scott Styris (11)
was giving Richardson company when stumps were drawn for the day
which was completely dominated by the Kiwis. It was a rather
nightmarish day for stand-in captain Rahul Dravid, the 28th skipper
in India's Test history, as his bowlers were made to toil the entire
day without any rewards on what appeared to be a good batting track.
The only breakthrough for India came when leg spinner Anil Kumble
put an end to the record-breaking partnership, getting rid of
Vincent late in the day, much to the relief of a meagre crowd which
did its best to pep up the demoralised home team.
Shortly after
improving on his previous best score of 104, Vincent attempted to
sweep Kumble but missed the ball completely and the umpire had no
hesitation in declaring him leg before wicket. The tall right-hander
struck two mighty sixes and 14 boundaries during his 106-run knock
which came off 227 balls. Barring a few anxious moments in the first
hour's play when the track had something to offer to the bowlers,
the two Kiwi openers seemed to be in no discomfort at all during
their marathon partnership which pushed the Indians on the backfoot
on the very first day. The two batsmen displayed some amazing shots
on both sides of the wicket and were prompt to despatch the loose
deliveries to the boundary to pile on the runs and compound the
misery of the clueless Indians.
The opening duo
also erased a number of records during their association, the
notable being the highest-ever opening partnership for New Zealand
against India, eclipsing the previous record of 149 which stood in
the name of Trevor Franklin and John Wright for their effort in
Napier in 1989-90. Vincent, considered to be one of the promising
batsmen in New Zealand, swept Kumble to the square leg boundary to
notch up his second Test century. The way he tackled the two famed
Indian spinners was creditable. Richardson had to defy cramps to
bring off his century towards the fag end of the day, hitting Kumble
to the boundary to achieve the milestone.
 Dravid, standing in
as captain for Sourav Ganguly who had to pull out of the crucial
match because of an abscess in his left upper thigh, kept rotating
his bowlers in a bid to get the breakthroughs but without much luck.
The right-handed Vincent was the more aggressive of the two batsmen
and was not afraid to go for some audacious shots against the
spinners. He picked Harbhajan for some special treatment sweeping
him to the square leg fence and then executing a rare reverse sweep
in the same over which again fetched him four runs.
After Vincent's
departure, the Black Caps promoted Styris up the order to negotiate
the Indian bowlers as only about ten overs were left for the day and
the all-rounder ensured that there was no further damage by hanging
around resolutely till the very end. Earlier, the two Indian new
ball operators Zaheer Khan and Lakshmipathy Balaji generated a fair
amount of pace in their early overs but were also a little guilty of
straying in line and length on a number of occasions. Though the
track provided some bounce and movement in the early stages of the
contest, the two Indian bowlers could not obtain the breakthrough as
the Kiwi openers played cautiously to give the visitors a steady
start.
Richardson got a
reprieve when Dravid spilled a sharp chance at first slip with
Zaheer being the unlucky bowler. The opener had scored just ten runs
at that stage and Dravid must be rueing the lost opportunity what
with Richardson going on to score an unbeaten century. (Agencies)
Published:
Thursday, October 16, 2003
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