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New Zealand trail India by 349 runs

New Zealand were 24 for one wicket in their second innings at the close of day three of the third and final test against India on Monday.

Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted with supreme authority on Monday to steer India into a huge lead as New Zealand were left with an uphill task of batting out two days to save the deciding test.

That task became harder after Harbhajan Singh dismissed opener Tim McIntosh to leave the tourists reeling at 24 for one, still needing 349 runs to make India bat again.

India declared their first innings at 566 for eight with a lead of 373 after New Zealand’s bowlers had picked up three early wickets on day three of the third and final test.

Dravid stood tall with his 31^st test hundred while captain Dhoni fell two short of his fifth hundred in tests as they stitched together a 193-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

The right-handed Dravid (191) got to the coveted century mark with a flicked two, 10 minutes before lunch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

The 37-year old missed his double hundred when he holed out to Martin Guptill at long-off trying to hit part-time offspinner Kane Williamson out of the ground.

Dhoni (98), who had been short of runs heading into the match, joined Dravid at the crease after the hosts had lost Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman and Suresh Raina cheaply.

The pin-up boy of Indian cricket then stepped on the pedal with some lusty hits to demoralise the New Zealand bowlers. He hit 12 boundaries and a six in his knock, before offering a tame return catch to Daniel Vettori.

The tourists had a couple of half chances in the day but the fielders failed to cling on, making it more difficult for the under-assault bowlers.

Tendulkar (61) could add just four runs to his overnight score before he edged debutant Andy McKay to wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins to become the left-arm seamer’s first test wicket.

Laxman followed soon after as Chris Martin bowled a big inswinger to breach his defence while New Zealand captain Vettori dismissed Raina through a bat-pad catch at silly mid-on.

The three-test series is tied at 0-0 after two draws.

Scores: New Zealand 193 (J. Ryder 59; I. Sharma 4-43, P. Ojha 3-57) & 24-1 v India 566-8 dec (V. Sehwag 74, G. Gambhir 78, R. Dravid 191, S. Tendulkar 61, MS Dhoni 98; D. Vettori 3-178).

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand first innings (J. Ryder 59; I. Sharma 4-43, P. Ojha 3-57)

India first innings (overnight 292-2) G. Gambhir c Taylor b Southee 78 V. Sehwag c & b Vettori 74 R. Dravid c Guptill b Williamson 191 S. Tendulkar c Hopkins b McKay 61 VVS Laxman b Martin 12 S. Raina c sub b Vettori 3 MS Dhoni c & b Vettori 98 H. Singh c McCullum b Martin 20 I. Sharma not out 7 S. Sreesanth not out 0 Extras (b-12, lb-5, w-4, nb-1) 22 Total (eight wkts dec; 165 overs) 566

Did not bat: P. Ojha

Fall of wickets: 1-113 2-192 3-296 4-309 5-328 6-521 7-549 8-562

Bowling: Martin 28-4-82-2 (w-2, nb-1), Southee 29-5-94-1 (w-1), McKay 31-5-120-1 (w-1), Vettori 58-7-178-3, Williamson 11-0-45-1, Guptill 7-0-27-0, Taylor 1-0-3-0

New Zealand second innings T. McIntosh lbw b Harbhajan 8 B. McCullum not out 15 G. Hopkins not out 1 Extras 0 Total (one wicket; 11 overs) 24

To bat: M. Guptill, R. Taylor, J. Ryder, K. Williamson, D. Vettori, C. Martin, T. Southee, A. McKay.

Fall of wicket: 1-18

Bowling (to date): Sreesanth 3-1-13-0, Sharma 2-2-0-0, Ojha 3-1-2-0, Harbhajan 3-0-9-1

The three-test series is tied at 0-0 after two drawn matches.