NZ 179-3 at tea on day 1, 1st test vs. India
AUCKLAND: Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum made half centuries in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership that lifted New Zealand to 179-3 at tea Thursday on the first day of the first cricket test against India.
Williamson was 79 not out and unbeaten on McCullum 71 at the end of the second session after combining to revive New Zealand, which had been 30-3 in the 18th over.
India was still in charge at 54-3 at lunch, but Williamson and McCullum swung the first day in New Zealand´s favor by adding 125 in the 27 overs in the middle session.
Williamson made the best of a reprieve shortly after lunch when he was dropped at slip with New Zealand at 76-1.
He now has a century and five half centuries in his last seven innings.
India gained a valuable early advantage when they won the toss and, with it, the chance to bowl first on a heavily-grassed wicket which promised lavish assistance to fast bowlers.
It seemed to deliver that promise when Ishant Sharma, bowling first change, captured two wickets in his opening spell as New Zealand tumbled to 30-3.
Sharma dismissed Hamish Rutherford for 6 with the fifth ball of his first over and returned to claim the vital wicket of Ross Taylor for 3 in the 18th over.
Taylor, who scored centuries in each of New Zealand´s three tests against the West Indies in December, had loomed as the danger man for India.
In between those dismissals, Zaheer Khan trapped Peter Fulton lbw for 13 and New Zealand was lurching toward disaster when Williamson came to the wicket, quickly followed by McCullum.
The New Zealand captain had hoped to give his bowlers the chance to bowl first and his worst fears about the opposing scenario seemed to have been realized when he was asked to bat, at No. 5, half an hour before lunch.
But Williamson had begun an unflappable resistance to the India bowlers and McCullum, heartened, joined him in a stand which steadily wrested the initiative in the match to the home team.
It was not only that the pair resolved to sell their wickets dearly but that they scored steadily, then quickly on a wicket which should have favored the bowlers.
They caused first surprise, then bemusement among the India bowlers, some of whom lost their lengths and provided the Kiwi batsmen with easy scoring opportunities.
The Indian seamers either bowled too short, allowing Williamson to play his array of scoring shots square of the wicket, or too full and were driven down the ground. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had been on the offensive throughout the first session, was forced in the second to scatter his field to save runs.
Williamson reached his half century from 79 balls with three fours and two sixes and McCullum from 86 balls with nine boundaries. (AP)
