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Hyderabad: Injury-ravaged New Zealand will hope for another inspired performance in the second Test against India starting on Friday, after giving a scare to the hosts in the opening tie.
The Kiwis had top-ranked India on the mat in the second innings, reducing them to 15 runs for five wickets before a maiden Test century by tailender Harbahajan Singh earned his side a draw in Ahmedabad.
New Zealand's show was all the more remarkable as they were missing two of their bowlers due to injuries picked-up in the course of the match.
Debutant fast-bowler Hamish Bennett did not bowl due to a groin injury from the first day of the Test while handy paceman Jesse Ryder strained his calf in making a first-innings 103.
All-rounder James Franklin has been called in to replace Bennett.
Kane Williamson, the 20-year-old who scored a century on his debut in Ahmedabad, was also struggling with his fitness.
Daniel Vettori, leading a team languishing at number eight in world rankings, hoped for a sporting wicket in Hyderabad, which will be hosting its first Test on a new ground.
"On the fifth day, you want a couple of guys to have short, sharp spells and just keep attacking," he said. "Unfortunately, the nature of Ahmedabad wicket and our limited resources didn't allow us to.
"I'd have loved to see us with five bowlers. Bennett in short sharp spells, and Ryder would have been a bit of a handful. It would have meant that Jeetan (Patel) and I could have attacked more as opposed to just bowling and bowling. "Whenever you come to India, your concern is taking 20 wickets. We've done it once and we have got to improve on that."
India will be expecting Gautam Gambhir to hit form after a string of low scores this year. The left-hander has aggregated just 86 runs in his last 10 innings.
Record-breaking Sachin Tendulkar will look to score his 50th Test ton, having missed the chance to register the feat in Ahmedabad where he scored 40 and 12 in the two innings.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni credited Kiwi fast bowler Chris Martin for bowling a fiery spell on the fourth day but warned the tourists of a strong comeback in Hyderabad.
"For one hour (in Ahmedabad) we did not play well," he said. "It was very difficult to get wickets on that kind of track. There was no reverse swing either because of the soft outfield.
All credit to Martin for taking those five wickets. We hope Hyderabad to be a better track. We are confident of a more convincing performance here.
The teams were greeted by rain on their arrival to the city Tuesday. The local meteorological department has predicted showers for two more days before the weather clears out.
The third and final Test will be played in Nagpur from November 20-24. The Tests will be followed by five one-day internationals from November 28.
Teams from
India: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth.
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Brent Arnel, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tim McIntosh, Andy McKay, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.
Match facts
November 12-16, 2010
Start time 09:30 local (04:00 GMT)
