India win first New Zealand series since 1968

India secured their first series win in New Zealand since 1968 on Tuesday after drawing the third Test.

Rain may have prevented the tourists thrashing the home side, but the draw was all they needed for the historic 1-0 series win.

New Zealand were poised on the brink of defeat at 8-281 when rain started falling about half an hour into the session after lunch on the fifth day, and continuing showers prevented play resuming.

With only two second innings wickets remaining, New Zealand remained 336 runs adrift of the massive target of 617 set by India when they declared at 7-434 early the previous day.

By Tuesday morning, the series result had not been in doubt with the visitors needing only a draw, coming into the final Test with a 1-0 lead after thrashing the hosts by 10 wickets in the first Test in Hamilton.

India's star-laden batting lineup proved too much for New Zealand's bowling attack and the home side's brittle batting line up came up short at crucial times.

The third test draw calls into question India's conservatism in deciding to bat on during the early part of the fourth day to extend their lead to 616, although rain on Tuesday had been forecast for several days.

The previous highest successful Test fourth innings run chase was 418 scored by the West Indies against Australia in 2003.

India's charge towards victory on Tuesday was led by offspinning star Harbhajan Singh, who took the prize wicket of New Zealand century maker Ross Taylor on his way to a haul of 4-59.

Sachin Tendulkar is known as the "Little Master for his batting but he showed he also knows a few things about bowling by taking 2-45 with his tricky leg spinners.

Taylor's dismissal for 107 signalled a mini-collapse that saw New Zealand slump from 4-226 to 7-253 in the space of eight overs in less than an hour before lunch.

With allrounder James Franklin, Taylor provided a ray of hope for the scattering of New Zealand fans who braved gale force winds at the Basin Reserve.

The pair had put on 142 runs for the fifth wicket since coming together on Monday afternoon, when New Zealand was at risk of collapse at 4-84.

Taylor's defiant fourth Test century was brought to an end when he was bowled by a beautifully flighted straight ball from Harbhajan.

His 165 ball innings over 261 minutes included 16 boundaries, as he mixed watchfulness with a willingness to attack any loose balls.

Tendulkar, bowling for the first time in the Test on Tuesday morning, had the New Zealand batsmen in trouble straight away, extracting plenty of turn on the Basin Reserve wicket.

He may have been lucky to get McCullum out for six, with replays suggesting the batsman may not have edged the turning ball before it deflected off wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's gloves into the safe hands of slip Rahul Dravid.

A day earlier, the 36-year-old Dravid passed Mark Waugh's world record of 181 catches for a fieldsman in Tests and has since extended his record to 184.

Just minutes before lunch, Tendulkar also claimed the wicket of Franklin, trapping him lbw after a patient innings lasting more than four hours.

Tim Southee fell for three after lunch, becoming Harbhajan's fourth victim when he was given out caught by Dhoni, although television replays suggested he might also have been unlucky.

Scoreboard at the end of the third Test between New Zealand and India here today.

India 1st innings

G GAMBHIR lbw Franklin 23

V SEHWAG c McCullum b O'Brien 48

R DRAVID c Franklin b Martin 35

S TENDULKAR c McCullum b Martin 62

V LAXMAN c McIntosh b Southee 4

Y SINGH lbw Ryder 9

M DHONI c O'Brien b Southee 52

H SINGH c Vettori b Martin 60

Z KHAN c McCullum b O'Brien 33

I SHARMA c McCullum b Martin 18

M PATEL not out 15

Sundries (2b 8lb 7nb 3w) 20

All out for 379

Fall: 73 (Sehwag), 75 (Gambhir), 165 (Tendulkar), 173 (Laxman), 182 (Singh), 204 (Dravid), 283 (Dhoni), 315 (Singh), 347 (Khan), 379 (Sharma).

Bowling: C Martin 25.1-3-98-4 (2w), T Southee 18-1-94-2, I O'Brien 22-3-89-2 (1w 1nb), J Franklin 14-4-38-1 (2nb), D Vettori 9-1-47-0 (3nb), J Ryder 4-2-3-1 (1nb).

Overs: 92.1

New Zealand 1st innings

T McINTOSH c Singh b Khan 32

M GUPTILL b Khan 17

D FLYNN c Dhoni b Khan 2

R TAYLOR c Dhoni b Singh 42

J RYDER c Dhoni b Khan 3

J FRANKLIN c Sehwag b Singh 15

B McCULLUM c Dhoni b Singh 24

D VETTORI c Dhoni b Sharma 11

T SOUTHEE c&b Khan 16

I O'BRIEN c Dhoni b Patel 19

C MARTIN not out 4

Sundries (9b 3lb) 12

All out for 197

Fall: 21 (Guptill), 31 (Flynn), 80 (McIntosh), 98 (Ryder), 120 (Taylor), 125 (Franklin), 138 (Vettori), 160 (Southee), 181 (McCullum), 197 (O'Brien), 65 (O'Brien).

Bowling: Z Khan 18-2-65-5, I Sharma 14-3-47-1, M Patel 8-2-20-1, H Singh 23-4-43-3, Y Singh 2-0-10-0.

Overs: 65

India 2nd innings

G GAMBHIR lbw O'Brien 167

V SEHWAG c Taylor b Martin 12

R DRAVID c McCullum b Vettori 60

S TENDULKAR c Taylor b Vettori 9

V LAXMAN b O'Brien 61

Y SINGH c Taylor b Martin 40

M DHONI not out 56

H SINGH c Southee b Martin 0

Z KHAN not out 18

Sundries (5lb 5nb 1w) 11

Seven wickets (dec) for 434

Fall: 14 (Sehwag), 184 (Dravid), 208 (Tendulkar), 314 (Gambhir), 319 (Laxman), 397 (Singh), 397 (Singh).

Bowling: T Southee 12-2-58-0, C Martin 22-7-70-3 (3nb), I O'Brien 25-6-100-2, J Franklin 16-3-72-0 (1w), J Ryder 6-1-21-0 (1nb), D Vettori 35-5-108-2 (1nb).

Overs: 116

New Zealand 2nd innings

T McINTOSH c Dravid b Khan 4

M GUPTILL lbw Singh 49

D FLYNN b Khan 10

R TAYLOR b Singh 107

J RYDER c Dravid b Singh 0

J FRANKLIN lbw Tendulkar 49

B McCULLUM c Dravid b Tendulkar 6

D VETTORI not out 15

T SOUTHEE c Dhoni b Singh 3

I O'BRIEN not out 19

Sundries (10b 2lb 6nb 1w) 19

Eight Wickets for 281

Fall: 30 (McIntosh), 54 (Flynn), 84 (Guptill), 84 (Ryder), 226 (Taylor), 244 (McCullum), 253 (Franklin), 258 (Southee).

Bowling: Z Khan 19.3-6-57-2 (1w), M Patel 13-4-22-0, I Sharma 12-2-57-0 (1nb), H Singh 33-8-59-4 (1nb), Y Singh 1-0-4-0, V Sehwag 7-0-25-0 (3nb), S Tendulkar 9-0-45-2.

Overs: 94.3

Toss: New Zealand

Referee: Alan Hurst

Umpires: Simon Taufel, Daryl Harper

TV umpire: Tony Hill

Result: Draw

Series: India beat New Zealand 1-0 to win three-match series.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/cricket/india-win-first-new-zealand-series-since-1968/2009/04/07/1238869962105.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2