New Zealand chased an impossible target of 617 as things looked bleak for the Kiwis at day four stumps. Bad light forced a premature end to the day while New Zealand were struggling at 167-4. New Zealand are still short of 450 runs to win the match and draw the series by 1-1. Ross Taylor and James Franklin kept the hopes alive for NZ batting at 69 and 26 respectively.

MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh resumed the Indian innings from the overnight score of 349-5. After losing Yuvraj Singh (40) at 397-6 when the lead had exceeded 550, a declaration looked in offing. Skipper Dhoni finally made the call at 434-7. He remained unbeaten at 56.

Rahul Dravid surpassed Mark Waugh’s record of maximum catches in test matches as he pouched Tim McIntosh (4) off a Zaheer Khan delivery. Dravid took his 182nd catch in his 134th game while Waugh had taken 181 catches in 128 games.

Five pointer from the first innings, Zaheer Khan then thrashed Daniel Flynn’s (10) stumps. Harbhajan Singh then struck twice in the same over to claim the wickets of Martin Guptill (49) and Jesse Ryder (0). New Zealand were put in a spot at 84-4 when a 83-run partnership between Taylor and Franklin stabilized the slump.

India are now close to sealing the series win with victory in the third and final test match. India won the first test by 10 wickets and miraculously saved the second match with a draw. Another 450 runs in a day with 6 wickets to go seems highly improbable, rather impossible. Chances are slimmer since there have been only 2 teams in history – England and West Indies who have managed to save the game chasing a total in excess of 600.

Wicket keeper Brendon McCullum has gone on the record to state that New Zealand will look forward to bat out the day. The weather forecast for Tuesday is cloudy and NZ better be thinking of saving the game. Either way, India will secure the test series win after 41 years in New Zealand. We look forward to the making of history in Wellington on Tuesday evening.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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