Rahul Dravid (144) scored his sixth hundred in 30th Test (first on home
soil) and third against New Zealand in three Tests. This was his first
hundred on home soil. Dravid's previous highest in India was 93 against
SriLanka at Mumbai in 1997-98. Sachin Tendulkar (126*) scored his 20th hundred in 69th Test, second
against New Zealand in 10th Test, 8th on Indian soil in 28th Test and fifth
in 19th Test as India's captain. Tendulkar became third Indian after Sunil Gavaskar (34) and Mohammad
Azharuddin (21) and only the 16th batsman in Test cricket to score more
hundreds in a Test career.His break-up of Test hundreds :
six against SriLanka,4 against England and Australia each, 2 against
South Africa and New Zealand and one against WestIndies and Pakistan
each.
Tendulkar has now scored a hundred in every 3.45 Tests. Among the 16
batsman who have scored 20 Test hundreds,only Don Bradman has the lower
Tests per hundred ratio (1.79). Tendulkar has now made hundreds on first appearance as captain against
two countries. He had scored 143 against SriLanka at Colombo RP in 1996-97. The 229 run partnership between Dravid and Tendulkar is India's second
highest for third wicket and third highest for any wicket in all Tests
against New Zealand. Only the 413 run stand for first wicket between Vinoo
Mankad and Pankaj Roy at Chennai in 1955-56 and 238 run stand for third
wicket between Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar at Hyderabad in 1955-56
have exceeded the performance of this duo. Saurav Ganguly scored his 10th fifty in 28th Test and first against
New Zealand in third Test. Ganguly and Dravid added 95 runs for the fourth wicket without being
separated in just 70 minutes and 107 balls. Indian batsmen scored 202 runs in just 43 overs of play. India's total (505-3d) is its fourth highest against New Zealand after
537-3d at Chennai in 1955-56,531-7d at Delhi in 1955-56 and 524-9d at
Kanpur in 1976-77. For the first time ever in Test cricket history a team managed to
score 500 plus runs in its second innings after being bowled out for under
100 in the first. The previous best performance was England's which made 475 in
its second innings after being bowled out for 75 in the first innings. India managed to score 505 in the second innings after being bowled out
for 83 in the first i.e. a difference of 423 runs in first and second
innings' scores. This is a new record for India. The previous record was of
375 runs (India made 463 for five against New Zealand at Mumbai in 1964-65
after being bowled out for 88 in the first innings). This is also the fourth
highest in Test history.The details :
Diff. Ist Inns 2nd Inns Countries Venue Season
551 106 657-8 Pak v WI Bridgetown 1957-58
497 174 671-4 NZ v SL Wellington 1990-91
431 133 564-8 WI v NZ Bridgetown 1971-72
422 83 505-3d Ind v NZ Mohali 1999-00
421 199 620 Eng v Aus Jo'burg 1966-67
400 75 475 Eng v Aus Melbourne 1894-95
Daniel Vettori just missed the opportunity of bowling most no. of overs
in a Test innings for New Zealand. The record is still held by Hedley
Howarth.The details :
Balls Bowler Analysis Opponents Venue Season
444 HJ Howarth 74-24-138-2 WestIndies Bridgetown 1971-72
426 DL Vettori 71-24-171-2 India Mohali 1999-00
420 HJ Howarth 70-24-144-4 England Lord's 1973
420 SL Boock 70-10-229-1 Pakistan Auckland 1988-89
Vettori by conceding 171 runs off his bowling recorded the fifth
expensive figures by a New Zealand er in a Test innings.The details:
Analysis Bowler Opponents Venue Season
70-10-229-1 SL Boock Pakistan Auckland 1988-89
41-3-194-3 ST Callaway Australia Wellington 1904-05
46-4-181-0 MN Hart WestIndies Wellington 1994-95
44-4-179-0 ML Su'a WestIndies Wellington 1994-95
71-24-171-2 DL Vettori India Mohali 1999-00
India set a victory target of 374 runs in 135 overs for New Zealand. However
the maximum New Zealand has made in the fourth innings of a Test to win a match
is only 324 for five against Pakistan at Christchurch in 1993-94.
