India batting themselves out of trouble

India's batsmen finally came to the party on day four of the second Test against New Zealand in Napier and now have a decent chance of saving the match and taking a 1-0 lead into the final match of the series.

Gautam Gambhir found his touch with a fine unbeaten century while the great Sachin Tendulkar is eyeing Test hundred number 43 after getting to 58 on what was a slow, but ultimately satisfying day for the Indians.

It's hard to remember them scoring so few runs in a day for a while but needs must and they now look likely to get away with a draw they barely deserved after being thoroughly outplayed over the first few days.

That said, they are not out of the woods yet because they still trail by 62 runs and a couple of quick wickets on the final morning could change everything.

Bet365 make the draw 1/9, while New Zealand are 11/2 and India are 50/1.

Gambhir, unbeaten on 102, is 5/6 to make 150 or more, while Tendulkar, who has 58, is the same price to make 115 or more. India are 5/6 to take their score from 252-2 on to 471 or better.

Original preview
India had never won a single Test in New Zealand before, a remarkable statistic when you think how good they have been over the years. However, they really only started being competitive on foreign soil in the past decade so perhaps it's not that surprising.

Now they have won one, I fully expect them to win two, and it could easily come this week in the second match of the series, to be played in Napier.

Quite simply, they are in a different class to New Zealand so it's a little surprising that they are only even money to win this one. New Zealand are 13/2, while the draw is 5/4.

Virender Sehwag tops the betting to be India's top runscorer in the first innings, at 10/3, while Sachin Tendulkar, hero of the first Test, and so many others, is 4/1. Gautam Gambhir is also 4/1, while Rahul Dravid is 9/2, Murali Vijay is 5/1. VVS Laxman is 6/1 and Yuvraj Singh is 13/2.

For New Zealand, Ross Taylor is 3/1 favourite, while Jesse Ryder is 4/1. McIntosh, Guptill and Flynn are all 9/2, while Brendan McCullum is 11/2 and Jacob Oram 13/2.

I can't see anything other than India winning this one, so take the evens before it goes.