India set for series victory against New Zealand

Opener Gautam Gambhir scored a magnificent 167 to tighten India’s stranglehold on New Zealand in the third and deciding Test here Sunday.

India were 531 runs ahead of New Zealand and had reached 349 for five in their second innings when bad light stopped play on the third day at the Basin Reserve.

Gambhir and Rahul Dravid ended any hopes of a New Zealand comeback by putting on 170 runs in a second-wicket partnership which ended soon after lunch with Dravid’s dismissal for a patient 60.

But after the cheap dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar for nine — much to dismay of the Indian fans — veteran VVS Laxman joined Gambhir to add another 106 runs for the fourth wicket.

The tourists lead the series 1-0 and need only a draw from this final Test to ensure their first series win in New Zealand since 1968, with only weather likely to save New Zealand from a heavy loss.

New Zealand have been on the back foot since Saturday, when they were dismissed cheaply for 197 in reply to India’s first innings total of 379. The 27-year-old Gambhir batted for nearly seven hours for his sixth Test century, hitting 16 fours and two sixes in a nearly faultess display.

He brought up his hundred by stroking Tim Southee through the covers for a boundary in the second over after lunch and smashed the next ball through the gully for another four.

WELLINGTON, Sunday, AFP

INDIA 

first innings 379
NEW ZEALAND 
first innings 197
INDIA second innings (overnight 51-1)

G. Gambhir lbw O’Brien			167
V. Sehwag c Taylor b Martin		 12
R. Dravid c McCullum b Vettori		 60
S. Tendulkar c Taylor b Vettori		  9
V. Laxman b O’Brien			 61
Y. Singh not out			 15
M. Dhoni not out			 16

EXTRAS (lb-5, nb-4)			  9
TOTAL (for five wickets, 97.5 overs)	349

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 2-184 3-208 4-314 5-319
BOWLING: Southee 12-2-58-0, Martin 15.5-5-50-1 (nb-2),
	O’Brien 22-6-77-2, Franklin 13-3-50-0, Ryder 6-1-21-0 (nb-1),
	Vettori 29-4-88-2 (nb-1)