India fight back after dismal first day at Wellington Spectres around the Indian team have a habit of being persistent with their haunting, and one in particular - the moving-ball bogey - returned at Wellington in full cry. India were bowled out for just 161, a score that would have been considerably more humiliating were it not for a gritty Rahul Dravid 76. Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris all got into the action, helping themselves to the wickets of a brittle Indian middle order. But the second day proved more fruitful. Sanjay Bangar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh bowled cleverly, forcing New Zealand's batsmen into expensive mistakes. Apart from Nathan Astle (41, 65b, 6x4), no other batsman could stay at the wicket with Mark Richardson, who patiently kept one end up to finish the day unbeaten on 83 off 221 balls. New Zealand, on 201 for seven, have some work to do if they are to capitalise on the advantage of bowling India out cheaply in their first innings.

The Buddha is smiling He's a trier, there's no doubt about that. Unable to contribute much with the bat, Sanjay Bangar took the ball and impassively bowled a superb line and length, snapping up two wickets for 23 runs in 15 overs in New Zealand's second innings. The impassive demeanour, in fact, prompted Rahul Dravid to nickname him "Buddha," and Bangar, at the end of the day, said, "The first time Dravid called me that was at Headingley, where we won the match, so hopefully it will prove lucky here as well." Bangar refused to take sole credit for his performance. "Since there was a possibility of me bowling into the strong wind, I had Adrian Le Roux give me some inputs about my run-up as I practised that task in the nets. That helped me a lot to adjust today," he said. "But everybody bowled well today, it was just that I happened to get the wickets." In the team as a second-change seamer at best, Bangar may have had cause to be surprised at his relatively heavy bowling load, but he did not show it. "I started bowling well, so Sourav (Ganguly) continued with me. Once I started pitching it in the right area, I knew I always had a chance of getting wickets. I was enjoying it and took it as a challenge." About the surface, Bangar said,"The more the bowler pitches it up, the more seam movement he gets, and there is hardly any swing. Since the pitch has been a bit damp, the seam is leaving marks on the pitch, and that will come into play when New Zealand bat last. So we have to get a good second-innings total on the board and put them under pressure."

A maiden Test wicket to remember for Jacob Oram Jacob Oram may be entitled to wonder what the fuss is all about regarding Test cricket. Making his debut, the Central Districts captain could reflect at stumps on the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar as his maiden Test wicket, an innings return of two for 31 from 15 overs, and a superb catch at gully to end the Indian innings. The ball that claimed Tendulkar nipped back into the illustrious batsman, who was out leg-before without offering a shot. "I knew if I could bowl tight - I'm not a big swing bowler - and if I could hit the seam, the pitch was helping us, so it was a matter of getting it in the right areas and asking questions," said a happy Oram at the end of the day.

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