Ahmedabad, Oct 11: Daniel Vettori struck a fine 60 as New Zealand tail-enders showed remarkable resilience to help their side avoid the follow on and fight back into the match on the penultimate day of the first cricket Test against India here today. India, who were looking to enforce a follow-on after reducing the hosts to 227 for seven at one stage, ran into a stubborn Kiwi tail which not only took the visitors beyond the 300-run follow-on mark but also added some valuable runs before being bowled out for 340 half an hour before lunch.
Resuming their second innings, India, who had declared their first innings at 500 for five, were 14 without loss with Virender Sehwag batting on 13 and debutante opener Akash Chopra on one when lunch break was taken.
If India are to extract a result on this pitch, which has surprisingly eased out and become more easier to bat on than the first two days, they will have to score quick runs before asking the Kiwis to bat again.
India, 174 runs ahead, would not like to see the match meander into a draw and would look to put up a total somewhere near 400 runs by close of play today and bowl the visitors out tomorrow. Bureau Report