New Zealand were cruising to safety with surprising ease in the third cricket test last night, greatly assisted by a rare show of defiance at the top of the batting order, and an outrageous tactical blunder by Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar.
The tourists' new opening combination of Matthew Horne and Gary Stead carried their total through to 103 without loss at lunch, by far New Zealand's biggest opening stand of the series, and a huge relief after the batting problems in Kanpur.
Without hope of reaching the winning target of 424 and averting a 1-nil series loss, New Zealand were nevertheless heading towards a psychological victory of sorts at Ahmedabad, with Stead and Horne laying much of the groundwork during the first session last night.
At lunch Stead was unbeaten on 67 after raising his second test 50 in 150 minutes, while Horne - fortunate to survive two extremely fair appeals for leg-before - was on 31.
It was the first time New Zealand had posted a 50 opening partnership (never mind a century stand) since the second test against South Africa in March, when Horne and Bryan Young put on 107.
Stead has now scored 200 test runs in four innings, including two half-centuries at an average of 50.00
Aside from the improved Kiwi batting, the other talking point yesterday continued to involve Tendulkar's flabbergasting decision against enforcing the follow-on midway through the fourth day.
At that stage New Zealand were still 275 runs in arrears and facing three hours batting before stumps, but Tendulkar - apparently to allow his bowlers some respite from the heat - chose to bat for another 32 overs.
Not since Mohammad Azharuddin invited the English to bat first at Lords in 1990 (when they managed to scrape together 653 for four) has an Indian captain been so exposed, and the local press wasted no time in venting their feelings yesterday.
Newspapers described the move as a confusing one which let the tourists off the hook.
Former Indian allrounder Ravi Shastri, in a column in The Times of India, said the decision was "diabolical".
Shastri believed time was the most important ingredient in any Indian push for victory, especially on a wicket which was holding together and still playing reasonably well.
"It must be said that after 10 hours in the field, the Indian bowlers would have been pooped," he said. "But test match victories are not easy to get."
New Zealand coach David Trist said his team were surprised at not being asked follow on, because the fewer overs his batsmen faced, the greater their chances of escaping with a draw.
Cricket: Defiant openers hold off Indians
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