fter being forced to be satisfied with Draw in first two test matches in the test series teamIndia has won the 3rd and final test match of the of the series. With this win Indian teamhas also locked the series with the score line of 1-0 against New Zealand.
New Zealand Cricket team came to India after the empty handed departure of Australian team from India. AfterIndian team had dashed World Champion Australia to the ground merciless it was surmised that the wings of Kiwis too will be clipped by the Mahender Singh Dhoni and his Men In Blue.
But throughout the test series Kiwi team refuted all the experts. Throughout the tour New Zealand Cricket team put up a great display of Cricket. But after forcing Indian team for a draw in the first two test matches of the series New Zealand team needed to gear up for the final test match.
This final test match between the two sides had become even more important now. After superb display of cricket New Zealand team was riding high in the sky. On the other hand ICC World No1. Test Team of the World Team India was dying to beat the hell out New Zealand team in the 3rd and final test match.
That is what today Indian team under the inspired leadership of Captain Mahender Singh Dhoni has done today in Ahmadabad.
Both the sides met in Ahmadabad and Kiwi Captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and decided to bat first on the graveyard of batting. After deciding to bat first New Zealand team needed to justify the decision taken by their captain.
But Indian team mopped away all the plans of New Zealand team by striking early blows in the first innings. By the time New Zealand crossed 50 runs in the first innings half of the New Zealand batsmen had been sent back to pavilion by Indian pacers Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and spinner Pragyan Ojha.
Woes of Kiwi team just did not end here. By the end of the first day New Zealand had been restricted to 148/7 by the Indian bowlers. The while credit for this goes to Indian bowlers who bowled their heart out.
So all in all the first day of the test match completely went in the favor of Indian bowlers.
On the second day Indian team bundled out the whole New Zealand team cheaply at 193 runs. So in this way the Bowlers had done their job in a frantic modes-operand now the it was the time of Indian batsmen to do their duty. If Indian bowlers did hypnotic job in an awesome style so Indian batsmen were also up to the task throughout the innings.
For Indian team two Delhi Daredevil s Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir came to open the innings. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir took the team of to a flying start.
That seriously hurt the Kiwi team. Virender Sehwag pounced at the New Zealand bowling attack right from the word go in his well versed style. On the other hand his partner Gautam Gambhir took some time to get his eyes in.
but once Gambhir got his eyes and so he also pounced at the in experienced bowlers. Both of them went on to add 113 for the partnership of first wicket.
Virender Sehwag was the first man to depart in the innings after scoring blistering 74 runs. But by the time Virender Sehwag got out he had seriously Put New Zealand in a position from where come back in the match was just not less than any miracle.
The man came to replace Virender Sehwag in the middle was none other than The Wall of Indian Mr. Rahul Dravid.
After getting rid of Virender Sehwag perhaps New Zealand must have heaved a sigh of relief and saw a ray of hope to come back in the game. But that turned out to be their biggest hallucination as Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir came in the form just at the nick of time for the team and wiped away all the plans of New Zealand.
After the departure of Virender Sehwag Indian team needed both of them to stay on the wicket and perform well. Gautam Gambhir became the second man to be dismissed. Gambhir made wonderful 78 runs before getting out.
After the departure of Gautam Gambhir THE God of Cricket entered the ground. The moment the God standing at the verge of 50Th Test Century named Sachnin Tendulkar steeped in the ground the all the spectators stood on their feet and gave heartwarming Standing Ovation to their national hero.
Everybody was expecting to become a lucky person to witness the most special moment of their life by watching their national hero and God scoring 50th test century in front of their eyes.
But unfortunately the dream of all the spectators did not come true as this Kiwi Quickie AJ Mckay shattered this dream of all the spectators by removing him. Before getting oout Sachin Tendulkar made wonderful 61 runs.
By the time Indian team had gripped the match fully. Now it was up to the middle order to make the most of this platform provided by the top order. But soon after the departure of Sachin Tendulkar Indian middle order collapsed as youngster Suresh Raina, VVS Laxman got out cheaply. By this time scoreboard was showing only 328 runs.
Now somebody needed to play a big as well as responsible innings. Moreover, somebody also needed to step up and support Rahul Dravid batting on the other end. With these hard responsibilities Indian skipper Mahenies Indian skipper Mahender Singh Dhoni came in the ground.
He not only made runs but he supported Rahul Dravid also. Before Dhoni got out he had made 98 runs. He just missed his well deserved test century by only 2 runs. He got out on 98 runs.
But by the team Indian captain got out he had done his job very well. He had put his team in a position from where team India could dictate terms in the match. By the time Mahender Singh Dhoni got out scoreboard was showing 521 runs. In this way Indian team had got the lead of 328 runs.
Dhoni and Dravid shared a triple century stand for the partnership of 6th wicket. Both of them went on to add 328 runs for the partnership of 6th wicket.
But once Dhoni got out he soon declared Indian innings at the score of 566/8. In this way Indian team was leading by 373 runs. But one man kept on standing for a long time like a wall. He is none other than The Wall of India Mr. Rahul Dravid. Before getting out he played a marathon innings of 191 runs.
Now batsmen had also done their duty just the way bowlers did in the first innings. But once again it was the time for the bowlers to perform and clip the wings of Kiwis. By the time Indian captain declared the innings evening of 3rd day.
Indian bowlers started from where they had left the job. Once again Indian team gave early blows to struggling New Zealandas. But this time the man who made first crack in the 2nd Innings of New Zealand was the turbnator Harbhajan Singh as he removed Tim McIntosh just before the end of 3rd days play.
McIntosh made only 8 runs and did not trouble the scorers much before going back to pavilion.
On the 4rth day Indian team was in full control. On the other side Indian pacers as well as Indian spinners were also in a full swing. Neither Indian pacers nor spinners showed any mercy for New Zealand team throughout the innings.
Indian bowlers once again went all guns blazing right from the word go and clipped the wings of New Zealand quickly without giving any chance to the opposition for making miraculous come back in the game.
But after the start of the day 4 New Zealand batsmen showed some resistance and took their team total up to 33 runs. But at this very score Pragyan Ojha gave a huge jolt to Kiwi hopes by removing well set batsmen Brendon McCollum on 25 runs. Brendon McCollum became the victim of umpire’s wrong decision.
The whole New Zealand team was shocked at his shocking dismissal. Before New Zealand team could understand anything Ojha Once again gave another big blow to New Zealand by removing Martin Guptill on 0. Before New Zealand team could understand anything Indian skipper Dhoni gave ball to Harbhajan Singh who also gave 2 back to back big jolts to New Zealand team. Harbhajan Singh removed Ross Taylor and Hopkins.
Now kiwis were in seriously all sorts of trouble. So far Kiwis were reeling at 93/5 and looking for some oxygen to breathe easy. But Indian team remained professional in terms of approach and kept on giving jolts to New Zealand one by one. Even Suresh Riana got two wickets.
But this time New Zealand tail showed some resistance once again as Tim Southee scored 31 runs and helped New Zealand in reaching 175 runs.
By the time New Zealand reached 175 runs New Zealand team was 8 wickets down. Umpires declared luch time at the same score but after lunch Indian captain put the responsibility of removing remaining two wickets of New Zealand on the shoulders of Ishant Sharma who removed rest of the two wickets of New Zealand in just 2 balls.
In this way team Indian bundled out New Zealand on 175 runs and won the Match by an innings and 198 runs.
So far the wickets are concerned so in the first innings Sreesanth got 2 wickets whereas Ojha got 3 wickets. On the other side Ishant Sharma was the most successful bowler as he got 4 wickets where as Harbhajan Singh got 1 wicket. But in the second innings Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma got 3 wickets each whereas Ojha and Raina got 2 wickets each.
In terms of batting Rahul Dravid scored a marathon ton of 191 runs whereas Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Shewag, Gautam Gambhir and Mahander Singh Dhoni contributed with the bat significantly. Sachin made 61 runs. Sehwag made 74 runs and Gambhir made 78 runs.
But Indian skipper made 98 runs and missed his well deserved century by just 2 runs. But Rahul Dravid held the innings together and made wonderful 191 runs.
Through this victory Indian team has also locked the series with the score line of 1-0. For putting up a great show with the bat throughout the series and saving the match twice for his nation out of no where Turbnator Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of The Series.
On the other for playing a match winning knock of 191 runs under the hell sort of circumstances on the graveyard of batting lineup The Wall of India Rahul Dravid got the Man of THE Match Award.
In this way Indian captain got the winning trophy in his hands. This performance shown by the Indian team in the match has promised that team India is all set for the battle of pride on South African Soil.
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