The expected run barrage never came, with Virender Sehwag run out early in the day, but half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid and an unbeaten 70 from Sachin Tendulkar allowed India to establish a measure of control at Seddon Park. New Zealand were disciplined with the ball and sprightly in the field, but despite a lot of moisture in the air after overnight rain, there was no real menace from the bowlers. By the time the players went off for bad light, India were just a run behind, though there would have been some disappointment at the fact that well-set batsmen didn't go on to make bigger scores.
Daniel Vettori is their highest-ranked player, at 11, and if the wickets are as predicted then he will be crucial, but really, who do you give the edge to - Vettori versus the Indian batsmen or Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra versus the New Zealand batsmen? Vettori is a wonderful bowler but performances over time against the better Test nations have shown him to be consistent but not destructive.
Without doubt the major hurdle will be New Zealand's ability to take 20 wickets. In fact, if the tracks are flat then bowling India out once could be a major issue too.
