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Three Daniel Vettori flighted balls, one in each session of play, decided the fluctuating fortunes of India and New Zealand on Day Three of the second Test. On each occasion an Indian batsmen danced down the track in an attempt to send the ball over the fence. The first two Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina got foxed as New Zealand went on dominate till tea.
In the final session, Harbhajan Singh connected and the ball sailed into the stands. That stroke triggered India's late charge. Harbhajan's 85 from 82 balls and his 69-run partnership with No.11 S Sreesanth saw India finish the day at 436/9, a lead of 86 runs over New Zealand.
The scoreboard reading when the first two assaults on Vettori by specialist batsmen had failed gives an idea about how things slipped for New Zealand in the final session. India was 184/3 when Tendulkar edged Vettori to slip and 311/5 when Raina mistimed a slog off the same bowler.
With pacers bowling a disciplined line and length to give perfect support to Vettori and the New Zealand fielding touching a new high, scoring runs wasn't easy. And that's the reason stepping out of the crease was an tempting option when Vettori tossed the ball. Though, the extra tweak that his index finger gave saw the ball dip and turn.
That was the reason both Tendulkar and Raina couldn't give the desired trajectory to the ball.
But Harbhajan isn't the batsman who thinks too much about reputations. Not of the bowler he is facing or that the batsmen that the bowler has dismissed. While in the dressing room, the Tendulkar and Raina dismissals must have made Harbhajan aware about the risk of rushing out against Vettori. And when at the non-striker end, he saw MS Dhoni, while being rooted in the crease, spoon a catch to cover. The Kiwi skipper had once again deceived a batsman with a subtle change in length.
Impressionable tailenders would have been a bundle of nerves while facing the dilemma of using the feet or staying back. But it seems that in Harbhajan's school of batting, there is no place for history books. The first two balls he faced from Vettori resulted in boundaries one over mid-on and the other over square on the leg side. But when Harbhajan's usual crisis management batting partner Zaheer Khan fell and Pragyan Ojha too was run out, he went for the broke.
With India ahead by just 17 runs and the last pair on field, Vettori flighted the ball to Harbhajan, who sent it over the long-on fence. The left-arm spinner dared him with another ball with similar trajectory and six more runs were added to India's lead. The advent of S Sreesanth at the crease added intrigue to the partnership. They had once made news together and bonhomie wasn't a word that was used often in those reports. Today things were different as they put a show that virtually pushed New Zealand out of the contest.
Vettori changed tactics and sent his fielders to guard the boundary. Harbhajan's assault continued and the ball continue to hit the centre of the bat. Fielders on the fence watched helplessly as the ball sailed over their heads. Between over Vettori was seen standing with his hands on the hip thinking about what could have happened if Harbhajan, like Tendulkar and Raina, too had misread the flight.
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