This was the moment; Sachin Tendulkar loses his off stump to Chris Martin's bowling, and India sits precariously poised at 15 for four in its second innings against the Black Caps. Our eyes were tired from a weekend where too much sport was watched, but Tendulkar's departure certainly got our attention.
In about 40 minutes time, play resumes on the final day of the first test at Ahmedabad. India leads the Black Caps by a mere 110 runs, with only four second innings wickets in hand, having fought its way to 86 for four by stumps. The pitch was playing well up until yesterday afternoon; sheesh, Chris Martin and Hamish Bennett lasted 51 balls in their tenth wicket partnership!
Can the Black Caps do the unthinkable and beat India, the ICC's #1-ranked test nation? Will VVS Laxman save the home side? Will the Black Caps crumble in their second turn at bat? Is a New Zealand victory too much to hope for?
This has been a wonderful test match; a great advertisement for test cricket; our favourite form of the sport we love above all others. We can't hardly wait for play to start at 5pm (NZ time), and to see what drama plays out tonight. We don't like cricket; we LOVE it!
UPDATE: Dismissing the last four Indian batsmen for a reasonable score proved to be a bridge too far for the Black Caps on a lifeless Ahmedabad pitch; there were a few highlights though including two dreadful LBW decisions by umpire Steve Davis, a maiden test AND first class hundred to Harbahjan Singh, a first test wicket for Ross Taylor (followed by a second) and a pair for opener Tim McIntosh.
A day which promised much nabg ended with a whimper. Such is the lot of the New Zealand cricket supporter!
5 comments:
nice arse. more pics like this please.
There was a time when Harbijhan was an easy wicket. Not these days for NZ and Australia by the look of it.
There's absolutely nothing in the pitch pdm; it is as lifeless as you could want. That of course makes Martin's spell yesterday all the more remarkable!
I didn't think the second LBW decision was all that dreadful - it's the sort of thing that been going either way since forever. The Laxman decision however, should see Davies being given a break from the middle for a while.
Why aren't they using the appeals system in this match?
James; I wondered the same thing. But Blind Freddie should have seen that Laxman hit the cover off his one; the ball deviated several inches.
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