A lower order carnage by India swung the pendulum heavily in favour of the visitors after New Zealand had snapped up nine wickets.

Stumps, India are 375 for nine

Zaheer Khan blasted a rapid fire 33 to help India add some crucial runs even as New Zealand kept chipping away with wickets.

Harbhajan Singh finally perished at the fag end of the day when he was picked up by Chris Martin for a blistering 60.

A sensational half-century by Harbhajan stung New Zealand despite MS Dhoni perishing to a rash short.
Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh have added some valuable runs to defy New Zealand after they pegged India back with some quick wickets.

Rahul Dravid pulled a short one from Chris Martin straight into the hands of James Franklin after consuming over three hours for his 35.

Tea, India are 190 for five

New Zealand’s bowlers came alive in the second session of the third Test against India today to take three wickets and restrict the tourists to 190 for five at tea in Wellington.

India began the day well as an aggressive start from Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir before the two fell in quick succession helped them to 101 for two at lunch.

But the hosts’ four-pronged pace attack went to work in the second session as the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh all tumbled. MS Dhoni was six not out while Rahul Dravid was unbeaten on 31.

The hosts made two changes to the side that drew in Napier recently with Daniel Flynn returning from a hand injury while Tim Southee replaced offspinner Jeetan Patel.

For India, meanwhile, skipper Dhoni returned after missing the second test with a back injury.

The visitors made a strong start as the runs flowed from the outset and Sehwag had racked up seven fours and one six to close in on 50.

However, he was dismissed two short of that mark when he got a thick edge from Iain O’Brien’s delivery to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum after an hour of play.

Gambhir followed suit in the very next over when James Frankiln trapped the 27-year-old lbw for 23.
That brought Dravid and Tendulkar together and their 90-run third wicket stand steadied the tourists as the latter passed his 53rd test half-century off 67 balls.

However, New Zealand made a breakthrough when Tendulkar was dismissed for 62 when he got an edge on Chris Martin’s delivery and McCullum made the catch.

India were 165 for three at that stage but then lost two for 17 as Laxman (four) got a thick edge on Southee’s delivery to Tim McIntosh at second slip while Yuvraj was dismissed lbw soon after from Ryder’s delivery to put New Zealand in a good position at the end of the second session.

Lunch, India are 101 for two

Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir got India off to a quick start but fell within quick succession of each other to let New Zealand breathe a little easy at the end of the first session of the third Test.

The hosts had won the toss and elected to bowl first but openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made a solid start before both were dismissed in quick succession midway through the morning.

At the end of the session, Sachin Tendulkar was 16 not out while Rahul Dravid was unbeaten on nine.
The hosts made two changes to the side that drew in Napier recently with Daniel Flynn returning from a hand injury while Tim Southee replaced offspinner Jeetan Patel.

For India, meanwhile, skipper MS Dhoni returned after missing the second test with a back injury.

The visitors made a strong start as the runs flowed from the outset and Sehwag had racked up seven fours and one six to close in on 50.

However, he was dismissed two short of that mark when he got a thick edge from Iain O’Brien’s delivery to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum after an hour of play.

Gambhir followed suit in the very next over when James Frankiln trapped the 27-year-old lbw for 23.

India lead the three-test series 1-0 after winning the opening test in Hamilton.
Teams

New Zealand: 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Daniel Flynn, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Jesse Ryder, 6 James Franklin, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Iain O’Brien, 11 Chris Martin.

India: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Munaf Patel.