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Harbhajan hits first century to earn India draw

Harbhajan Singh emerged as India’s unlikely batting hero when he scored his maiden hundred to bail the hosts out of a tight situation for a draw in the first test against New Zealand on Monday.

The right-handed batsman, who had hit a career-best 69 in the first innings, combined in a 163-run partnership with Vangipurappu Laxman for the seventh wicket, and put paid to any hopes the visitors had of winning the test match.

A fiery spell of fast bowling by Chris Martin had reduced India to 15 for five on Sunday, and it required a dogged innings from the dependable Laxman (91) and the unlikely Harbhajan (115) to arrest the collapse.

Resuming on a precarious 82 for six, India finished their second innings on 266, setting New Zealand an improbable target of 295 runs from 24 overs.

The visitors lost Tim McIntosh, who went for a golden duck, to Zaheer Khan and reached 22 for one before the captains settled for a draw.

Harbhajan brought up his maiden test century by lofting New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori over the long-off boundary to bring the sparse crowd for the final day’s action at the Sardar Patel Stadium to their feet.

He then celebrated by mimicking the batting stance of his team mate and scorer of 49-test centuries Sachin Tendulkar, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, who were seen laughing on the dressing-room balcony.

Harbhajan danced down the wicket to pacer Martin and reverse swept the spinners, to hit 10 fours and three huge sixes in his knock.

Laxman and Zaheer (0) fell in consecutive deliveries from left-arm spinner Vettori, to dubious leg before decisions by umpire Steve Davis.

Television replays appeared to show that on both occasions the batsmen had managed an inside edge before the ball hit their pad.

The New Zealand bowlers, hampered by injuries to Hamish Bennett and Jesse Ryder, were unlucky earlier in the day as they found a number of edges only to watch the ball land short of their fielders.