Ahmedabad, Nov 6: Not many had given the visiting New Zealand side much of a chance in their three match Test series against India. Yet, the manner in which the Kiwi batsmen kept the Indian bowlers at bay all through the third day of the first Test in Ahmedabad, there is enough to show that the visitors are anything but the bunnies most predicted them to be.

Resuming from an overnight score of 69 for 2, the immediate challenge in front of the Kiwi batsmen was to get the team past the follow-on mark of 287 runs. Perhaps that is why Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor curbed their natural instincts to go for the big shots and instead adopted a more dour approach in their batting styles. Together the duo put on a 104-run partnership for the third wicket, with both batsmen bringing up their half centuries in the bargain.

However, just when the McCullum-Taylor combination looked to have weathered the early onslaught of the Indian attack, both batsmen fell within a space of 6 runs to leave their side in dire straits. Taylor (56) flicked a catch to VVS Laxman at short mid-wicket, while McCullum (65) was stumped off Ojha’s bowling. With those two back in the pavilion, the Indians appeared to have got back the advantage as New Zealand went into lunch still requiring another 140 runs, with six wickets in hand, to avoid the follow on.

But after lunch, mostly everything went New Zealand’s way. Jesse Ryder and debutant Kane Williamson struck a partnership that at once denied the Indians of running through the Kiwi batting lineup and also gave the visitors the opportunity to make a match of this Test. They batted like veterans, denying the Indian bowlers the opportunity of taking wickets in a heap. New Zealand went into Tea at 265 for 4, with Williamson having swept and cut his way to a debut half-century, while Ryder relying on the strength of his drives brought up his fifth half-century in Test cricket.

The Indians though had a couple of chances to break the Ryder-Williamson partnership but remained unlucky in their attempts to do so. The first was when Jesse Ryder, batting then on a score of just 11 runs, was dropped by Rahul Dravid off Sreesanth’s bowling. The other missed opportunity was when Williamson was given not out by umpire Kumar Dharmasena when he appeared to have nicked a ball to wicketkeeper Dhoni off Zaheer Khan’s bowling.

The post Tea session saw the Indian spinners – Harbhajan, Ojha and Raina ask questions of both batsmen, but on each occasion the Williamson- Ryder partnership was saved by a little bit of luck and pluck. Ryder brought up his third century in Test cricket, having crashed a Sreesanth delivery through the covers for four, his 103 coming in 203 deliveries. But just as he and Williamson (87*) appeared to finish the day for New Zealand without the loss of any further wickets, Sreesanth had Ryder trapped LBW to bring an end to, both, the 194-run partnership and the day’s play.

Brief Score – India 1st innings 487 (Virender Sehwag 173, Rahul Dravid 104, Daniel Vettori 4-118), New Zealand 1st innings 331 for 5 (Jesse Ryder 103, Kane Williamson 87*, Pragyan Ojha 2-80)