Wellington: Ajinkya Rahane cracked his maiden ton as India dished out a dominant batting display to take a massive 246-run lead and put themselves in the driver’s seat against New Zealand in the second and final Test here on Saturday.
Rahane, playing in his fifth Test, struck a classy 118 from 158 deliveries with the help of 17 fours and a six as India scored 438 all out on the second day in reply to New Zealand’s 192 on a Basin Reserve pitch that has considerably eased out in favour of the batsmen.
Pacer Zaheer Khan then dismissed opener Peter Fulton for just one as New Zealand ended the day on 24 for one, still trailing by 222 runs with nine second innings wickets in hand.
The other opener Hamish Rutherford and in-form Kane Williamson were at the crease on 18 and four respectively at stumps.
Rahane bettered his previous highest score of 96, made in Durban against South Africa in December. He put on a 120-run seventh wicket stand with skipper MS Dhoni (68 off 86 balls) as India pressed for the advantage afte tea with some aggressive batting.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan (98) was unlucky to miss out on a century. Dhawan, who laid the foundation of India’s best batting show of the Test series, faced 127 balls and struck 14 fours and a six.
India also scored at a brisk pace, adding 338 runs from 74.4 overs they faced. They scored at 4.26 runs per over overall.
For New Zealand, Tim Southee (3-93), Trent Boult (3-99), Neil Wagner (3-106) and James Neesham (1-62) shared the spoils.
SCORECARD
New Zealand 1st inn: 192
India 1st inn: (o’night 100/2)
S Dhawan c Watling b Southee 98
M Vijay c Watling b Southee 2
C Pujara lbw b Boult 19
Ishant c Watling b Boult 26
V Kohli c Rutherford b Wagner 38
R Sharma b Neesham 0
A Rahane c Boult b Southee 118
MS Dhoni c Watling b Boult 68
R Jadeja c Fulton b Wagner 26
Zaheer c Watling b Wagner 22
M Shami not out 0
Extras: (b-8, lb-4, w-7, nb-2) 21 Total: (all out; 102.4 overs) 438
FOW: 1-2, 2-89, 3-141, 4-162, 5-165, 6-228, 7-348, 8-385, 9-423
Bowling: Boult 26-7-99-3, Southee 20-0-93-3, Wagner 22.4-3-106-3, Anderson 16-2-66-0, Neesham 18-2-62-1
New Zealand 2nd inn:
P Fulton lbw b Zaheer 1
H Rutherford batting 18
K Williamson batting 4
Extras: (nb-1) 1
Total: (1 wkt; 9 overs) 24
FOW: 1/1
Bowling: Ishant 3-0-9-0, Zaheer 3-2-7-1, Shami 3-0-8-0
With three full days left, India, who lost the first Test in Auckland by 40 runs, will look to win the game and level the two-match series.
Starting off on 301/6 post-tea, Rahane and Dhoni scored runs at a quick clip, especially the latter.
The Indian captain brought up his 29th Test fifty off 64 balls with six fours and one six in the 86th over. Two overs later, they brought up their 100-run partnership. Just as it was looking too easy for the Indian batsmen, Dhoni was strangled down the leg side and caught by keeper BJ Watling off Boult in the 93rd over.
Ravindra Jadeja (26 off 16 balls) came to the crease and started hitting out, living by the sword and dying by it, in the 97th over. He added 37 runs with Rahane who was now running out of partners.
But Zaheer hung around long enough for Rahane to complete his richly deserved maiden hundred, coming off 149 balls, with 15 fours.
After becoming the 76th Indian batsman to score a Test century, he changed gears to add 38 quick runs with Zaheer, who scored 22 runs of 19 balls.
Rahane’s superb innings was brought to an end by an equally stupendous one-handed catch in the deep by Boult in the 102nd over. An over later, India were all out, with Zaheer edging behind.
Elated after scoring his hundred, Rahane thanked retired legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid for inspiring him and helping him become a better player.
“Rahul Dravid is my role model and I have been following him since childhood. I have played with him in the Indian team and with Rajasthan Royals, and so I really learnt a lot from him both on and off the field. I just want to thank Rahul bhai,” Rahane said at the end of second day’s play here.
“I also want to thank Sachin (Tendulkar) paaji because during his last two Test matches, he told me about my batting. He said, ‘I have been following you, and your hard work and your fitness. Just be patient and wait for your chance.'” he added. (PTI)