India escapes Napier with a draw

Posted by on Mar 30, 2009 in Cricket

The second Test at Napier which was dominated totally by the Kiwis for the first three days has ended in a draw thanks to a superb rearguard action from the hosts when it mattered the most. Gautam Gambhir played perhaps the innings of his life as he disciplined himself for as many as 643 minutes to help his team achieve the unthinkable. The rest of the batsmen from Dravid to Laxman gave him all the support that was needed at the other end.

On the fifth day morning, India lost its overnight batsman Sachin Tendulkar early but that didn’t rattle the dressing room any bit. Laxman arrived at the crease to ease up things along with Gautam Gambhir to put up an important match saving partnership. Gambhir eventually fell but it was only in the second session having got India in the lead of 42 runs. The left hander scored 137 but what was important was that he batted for 436 balls, which is more than 70 overs!

Before the match ended in a stalemate, VVS Laxman helped himself to a neat century, he stayed unbeaten on 124 in the company of Yuvraj who got an unbeaten 54. India closed the match at 476 for 4 having batted for 180 overs. Jesse Ryder got the Man of the Match for his solid double century.

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