1ST test drawn india vs New Zealand

Harbhajan Singh's maiden Test century earned India a hard-fought draw in the first Test against New Zealand.

At 15 for five and 65 for six last night, India appeared to be staring defeat in the face, but VVS Laxman (91) and Harbhajan, who recorded his second Test-best score of the match in reaching 115, put on 163 to see their side towards a second-innings total of 266.
New Zealand strolled to 22 for one before the teams shook hands at the start of the last hour.
With Hamish Bennett unable to bowl because of a groin strain, New Zealand were left with just one frontline seamer in Chris Martin, but he could not recreate the form which brought him five wickets yesterday.

Harbhajan lived dangerously from the early stages - he could have been run out by Daniel Vettori, while Brendon McCullum grassed a tough chance in close.
He responded by extravagantly sweeping Vettori for four.
There was frustration for the Black Caps as Laxman drove Vettori inches short of the bowler, then Harbhajan - having slammed a sweep into BJ Watling's ribs - edged Jeetan Patel inches in front of slip.
Again he replied in idiosyncratic style, reverse-sweeping the off-spinner for four to bring up the 50 partnership.
Laxman launched Patel just short of the leg-side boundary for a four which brought up his half-century, and Harbhajan followed suit soon after - becoming just the fourth man to make two fifties from number eight in the same Test.
The Black Caps suffered another near miss as an edge from Harbhajan off Martin did not quite reach Ross Taylor at slip. A swipe for four followed.
A single from Harbhajan two balls after lunch took the partnership into three figures, and he lofted two superb inside-out boundaries to further improve on his first-innings mark of 69.
His next boundary, a cut off Patel, brought up India's record seventh-wicket stand against New Zealand as he and Laxman reached 129 together and he then moved to his highest first-class score with a swept single.
Laxman showcased come uncharacteristic improvisation, flipping Patel over the keeper for four and then stretching to sweep a full-toss to the boundary in the off-spinner's next over.
Another edge from Harbhajan fell just short of Jesse Ryder at slip and he responded in the time-honoured fashion with a boundary to move into the 90s, before his charmed life continued.
He tried to turn Martin into the leg side but got a leading edge and was relieved to see a tough return catch slip through the diving bowler's fingers.
But a superb match-saving stand was ended in highly controversial fashion as Laxman was given out leg before for 91 despite getting a huge inside edge on Vettori's arm-ball. The 36-year-old hit nine fours in 253 balls.
And umpire Steve Davis appeared to blunder again next ball as Zaheer Khan was sent on his way in similar fashion to leave India 228 for eight and Vettori on a hat-trick, which Pragyan Ojha averted. Davis' few minutes of madness continued as he called the end of the over one ball early.
Harbhajan shrugged off the double setback by sashaying out of his crease to launch Vettori over wide long-off for six and reach his century in the ultimate style. It came from 165 balls with 10 fours and two sixes.
He should have been stumped when he attempted to repeat the shot next ball but was soon hoisting another six down the ground before Ojha joined in the fun, dragging Vettori to the mid-wicket boundary from way outside off stump.
The part-time spin of Ross Taylor accounted for the last two wickets shortly after tea.
Harbhajan top-edged a rank full toss to Watling at short fine leg to give Taylor his first Test wicket and Shanthakumarn Sreesanth nicked to keeper Gareth Hopkins to give him improbable figures of two for four from 4.4 overs.
New Zealand were left to notionally chase 295 from 24 overs, but that was never a realistic prospect.
They lost Tim McIntosh for his second duck of the match, trapped leg before by some fine inswing from Zaheer, but otherwise reached the close with no concerns.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni removed his wicketkeeping gear to bowl the final over before the handshake, with a huge four wides down the leg side providing some late levity.

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