Newzealand dominated on day1 test2

New Zealand 258 for 4 (McIntosh 102, Guptill 85, Zaheer 2-41)

Tim McIntosh became only the 11th batsman to follow a pair with a century, and Martin Guptill came back to the Test side with an eventually attractive 85 to continue what has been an impressive tour of India so far. The selection masterstroke, the inclusion of Guptill and persistence with McIntosh, almost didn't work, but a red-hot Sreesanth overstepped when he had Guptill caught for five, and MS Dhoni dropped him on 11. By the time India produced their next opportunity, the two had added 147, and New Zealand were well on their way to claiming honours on the first day.

More importantly, McIntosh became the first New Zealand opener in six years to score an away century. He was solid against pace, was happy to wait out his runs, escaped Zaheer Khan's grip slowly, finger by finger, and then settled in for a long workmanlike effort. Against spin he used his feet beautifully, coming down the track often, not always with the intent of hitting the ball hard. Guptill, of the classy 30s known for his beautiful drives, stumbled through the first 20 runs or so, and then claimed the keys to go driving, hitting eight of his 10 boundaries down the ground.

Guptill was the fortunate one, but for India it was an accident waiting to happen. India had bowled 81 no-balls in the six Tests prior to this, but the way it came about seemed a bit cruel. Sreesanth had started off with his best spell in a long time. The seam position was perfect, swing and bounce were extracted, and so was an early edge from Brendon McCullum, with a ball that kicked off just back of a length, and left the batsman. He went on to torment Guptill, duly producing an edge. The next man in, Ross Taylor, had crossed Guptill by the time umpire Kumar Dharmasena finished conferring with the third umpire, and rightly called it a no-ball. It was the third such instance for India this home season, and second for Sreesanth.An angry outswinger followed, but it was too good to take the edge. All Sreesanth had to show for his effort was a right to glare at the batsman who was smiling at his luck moments ago, and a nod of acknowledgement after being beaten. Guptill was to get away again soon. Harbhajan Singh had set him up with big offbreaks, and then bowled one that didn't turn as much. Dhoni, too, expected the ball to turn big, and went too far inside the line. The edge hit his index finger, and the deflection fell wide of slip.After that, though, Guptill and McIntosh acquired complete control. The only time McIntosh looked like getting out was on 91, when he top-edged a sweep off Harbhajan over the keeper's head. Otherwise, he was disciplined in a manner that would make Mark Richardson proud. The instructive part of his innings was the early battle against Zaheer, the only bowler he managed to face in Ahmedabad. At one point he had faced 29 balls in the series, all from Zaheer, without scoring a run. The first ball from a bowler other than Zaheer, though, was cover-driven handsomely for four. In Zaheer's next over, he repeated the cover-drive, and set up his tent.