AHMEDABAD, 12 October 2003 — India skipper Saurav Ganguly made a sporting declaration to throw the opening cricket Test against New Zealand wide open here yesterday.
Set a challenging 370 to win in a minimum of 108 overs on an easy-paced pitch, New Zealand reached 48-1 at stumps on the fourth day after avoiding a follow-on. They now need 322 more runs with nine wickets in hand. Lou Vincent was batting on 21 with nightwatchman Daryl Tuffey, who had yet to open his account. Opener Mark Richardson (21) was the lone batsman to be dismissed, caught by Akash Chopra at forward short-leg off leg-spinner Anil Kumble.
India batted less than 45 overs before declaring their second innings closed at 209-6 after gaining a lead of 160.
Rahul Dravid followed his first-innings 222 with a blazing 82-ball 73 to lead an Indian run-riot. He put on 77 for the second wicket with debutant Chopra (31) to set the tone after the cheap dismissal of Virender Sehwag. Venkatsai Laxman and Ganguly also joined the party as they scored briskly despite a defensive field setting.
Laxman made 44 off 35 balls with one six and three fours and Ganguly 25 from 23 deliveries with two sixes before throwing their wickets away in a bid to gather quick runs before the declaration.
The New Zealand fielding wilted under pressure as Paul Wiseman dropped Dravid and then Nathan Astle let off Parthiv Patel in the deep.
Stroke-makers Sachin Tendulkar (7) and Sehwag (17) disappointed almost 10,000 spectators at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
Off-spinner Wiseman emerged as the most successful bowler claiming four wickets, but failed to contain runs as he conceded 64 in 11.5 overs.
Wiseman had earlier played a vital role as a batsman, scoring 27 in a 67-run stand for the ninth wicket with Daniel Vettori to help his team avoid the follow-on.
Vettori completed an all-rounder’s double, reaching 1,000 runs during his gutsy 60 as his team scored 340 in reply to India’s 500-5 declared. The left-arm spinner has already bagged 144 wickets in 47 Tests.
The morning session belonged to Vettori, who dominated the crucial stand with Wiseman to help his team cross the follow-on mark of 301.
The New Zealand tail-enders defied the hosts’ bowling for nearly 90 minutes after their team had resumed at 282-8, still 19 short of making India bat again.
Once the follow-on was avoided, Vettori played his shots with more freedom and reached his sixth Test half-century with a pulled boundary off left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan.
Khan was pressed into the attack after spinners Harbhajan Singh and Kumble had failed to break the Vettori-Wiseman partnership.
The fast bowler finally provided the breakthrough when he had Wiseman caught pulling by Laxman at square-leg for his fourth victim.
Vettori was the last batsman to be dismissed, caught by Dravid in the slips off Kumble after hitting 10 fours in his 129-ball knock.
