Cricket: Martin renews Kiwi hope

Chris Martin rediscovered the elixir of youth to ignite New Zealand's victory hopes in the first cricket test against India in Ahmedabad yesterday.

The 35-year-old fast bowler cut a swathe through the vaunted Indian top order either side of tea to leave the hosts a quivering mess at 15 for five, holding an overall lead of just 43 runs on the fourth afternoon.

He later returned to remove skipper MS Dhoni, who dragged a shorter ball on to his stumps, to complete the mini rout with figures of five for 25.

India extended their advantage to 110 by reaching the sanctuary of stumps on 82 for six after an undermanned New Zealand could not deliver the knockout blows.

VVS Laxman is the only specialist batsman left for India, having ever so cautiously made his way to 34 at the close as the test enters a final day today full of intrigue and possibilities.

Martin produced a devastating opening spell of four for 15 off nine overs as he sliced and diced the Indian top order, inducing edges behind from Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid, then bowling Sachin Tendulkar off an inside edge for just 12 runs. He then had Suresh Raina caught by Ross Taylor in the slips for a duck.

Virender Sehwag had earlier been the victim in the second over of a horrible mix-up with Dravid, who hit spinner Daniel Vettori firmly into the off side. Substitute fielder Martin Guptill flung himself to the ground to intercept the ball and quickly sent it to the non-striker's end with neither batsman within sight.

With these important dismissals, India were in utter disarray as the tourists did their best to fill gaps left by injuries to strike bowler Hamish Bennett and medium pacer Jesse Ryder. Bennett has not bowled since sustaining a groin strain on the first day, and Ryder strained a calf while compiling a classy 103 on Saturday.

That meant that Martin shared the new ball with Vettori, the skipper effectively closing down an end as his first spell saw only 10 runs come off seven overs.

Earlier, Kane Williamson became the youngest of eight New Zealanders to score a century on test debut when he progressed from his overnight 87 to 131 as the tourists dragged themselves to within 28 runs of India's first innings total of 487.

He settled quickly into his work in the morning after sharing a record fifth wicket stand of 194 on Saturday with Ryder, whose 103 marked his third century against India.

The 20-year-old Williamson sped through the 90s, a controlled hook then a crisp, fine flick off his hip against fast bowler Zaheer Khan carrying him to three figures after 309 minutes of high-quality batsmanship at No 6 in the order.

He stayed until the tick of lunch, finally undone when edging left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha to slip to end a vigil of 391 minutes, which featured 10 boundaries.

Vettori chipped in with 41, along the way passing the 4000-run barrier and becoming just the third man behind Englishman Ian Botham and Indian great Kapil Dev to score 4000 test runs and take 300 wickets.

The tail stuck around for a while without accomplishing much, leaving the stage to Martin to stir some life into a contest that had to all intents and purposes looked destined for a draw.

SCOREBOARD:
India - First innings 487

New Zealand
First innings (overnight 331-5)
T McIntosh c Dhoni b Khan 0
B McCullum st Dhoni b Ojha 65
BJ Watling b Ojha 6
R Taylor c Laxman b Singh 56
J Ryder lbw b Sreesanth 103
K Williamson c Laxman b Ojha 131
D Vettori c Dhoni b Raina 41
G Hopkins lbw b Ojha 14
J Patel b Sreesanth 14
H Bennett b Zaheer 4
C Martin not out 3
Extras (5b, 12lb, 5nb) 22
Total (165.4 overs) 459

Fall: 8 (McIntosh), 27 (Watling), 131 (Taylor), 137 (McCullum), 331 (Ryder), 417 (Williamson), 417 (Vettori), 445 (Hopkins), 445 (Patel), 459 (Bennett).

Bowling: Z Khan 28.4-6-70-2, S Sreesanth 26-2-88-2 (5nb), P Ojha 53-14-107-4, H Singh 43-7-112-1, V Sehwag 1-0-7-0, S Raina 12-1-42-1, S Tendulkar 2-0-16-0.

India
Second innings
G Gambhir c Hopkins b Martin 0
V Sehwag run out 1
R Dravid c Hopkins b Martin 1
S Tendulkar b Martin 12
VVS Laxman not out 34
S Raina c Taylor b Martin 0
MS Dhoni b Martin 22
H Singh not out 12
Extras 0
Total (for 6 wkts, 40 overs) 82

Fall: 0 (Gambhir), 1 (Sehwag), 2 (Dravid), 15 (Tendulkar), 15 (Raina), 65 (Dhoni).

Bowling: C Martin 13-7-25-5, D Vettori 15-2-31-0, J Patel 10-1-18-0, K Williamson 2-0-8-0.

- NZPA