A welcome return to form for Astle

Nathan Astle's effort in scoring his ninth Test century speaks volumes of the place he is now at in his cricket career. A mature and seasoned campaigner, he came from nowhere to give New Zealand a sniff of hope at Ahmedabad.

With no form in the one warm-up match available to the side, and no opportunity for matchplay after recuperating from knee surgery earlier in the year, he stepped into the cauldron with New Zealand in trouble and reeling at the hands of Zaheer Khan at 17 for 3. There is an element of thought in the New Zealand one-day game, that Astle is sufficiently nervous in the first few overs to warrant relieving him of the opening duties that had made him such an outstanding force.

If there was any nervousness as he attempted to steer New Zealand toward stumps on the second evening, and then on the resumption, it was soon put away as he worked with Scott Styris and then Craig McMillan to get New Zealand closer to the security 301 would provide them with. Unfortunately, the third day ended with 19 runs still needed to avoid the follow-on.

But the basic desire for runs that now characterises Astle's batting was evident again, and in compiling his 103 he moved to 3523 Test runs and ahead of two significant rescue merchants from New Zealand's past, John Reid and Bevan Congdon. If ever there were two batsmen for a crisis they were the men. Ahead of him are Martin Crowe (5444), John Wright (5334) and Stephen Fleming (4672), but only Crowe with 17, has scored more centuries than him.

While he goes from strength to strength, there was comfort after the season of hell that Craig McMillan endured when he couldn't find a run to save himself last summer, that he had regained some of his belligerent form to post a half-century. But should New Zealand fail to make the follow-on then Akash Chopra's brilliant reflex catch to dismiss him will have had a significant effect on the final outcome. The New Zealanders have become notorious as a fighting unit and the lower-order are not new to the task of attempting to try and salvage situations.

Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman have both been used as pinch-hitters in one-day domestic cricket for their teams, but they will have their defensive mettle well and truly tested during what promises to be a stimulating morning session on the fourth day. To get out of this position would be one of the greater escapes. And if they can't then Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will be licking their lips in anticipation of more Test wickets.