Agency :Bowlers win you Test matches because you need 20 wickets to win one. India were once again taught that lesson by New Zealand on Monday when Brendon McCullum’s second consecutive double century, BJ Watling’s 124 and a world-record partnership of 352 for the sixth wicket between those two pushed the visitors out of the driver’s seat on the penultimate day of the second Test in Wellington. India could take just one wicket in the entire fourth day’s play that was dominated by New Zealand who began proceedings six runs ahead and ended up adding 319 more to it to build a lead of 325 – largely due to the record-breaking partnership between McCullum and Watling. Shami was the only bowler to take a wicket in three session on Monday when he removed Watling with the third new ball of the Kiwi second innings. But it had no effect on McCullum who continued to make India pay heavily for dropping him twice on Sunday. He was batting on 281 and debutant Jimmy Neesham on 66 when stumps were drawn with NZ 571 for 6. India had New Zealand in a spot of bother at 94 for 5 after taking a 246-run lead in the first innings on day three but to their frustration are now facing the prospect of even losing the match. McCullum’s marathon knock has now extended to six sessions at the crease, facing 525 balls and hitting 28 fours and 4 sixes. After Watling departed, Neesham came out playing strokes and had a debut half-century under his belt with the help of 9 fours. For India, Zaheer Khan (3 for 129), Mohammad Shami (2 for 136) and Ishant Sharma (0 for 124) toiled hard on an unresponsive pitch, particularly with the third new ball. Ravindra Jadeja (1 for 108) was rendered ineffective as well. Part-timers Rohit Sharma (0 for 40) and Virat Kohli (0 for 13) were given a go to try something different, while skipper MS Dhoni (0 for 5) also bowled after the tea-break. New Zealand started day four at 252 for 5 but McCullum and Watling didn’t allow the Indians to take advantage of any early morning help on offer. And once they had re-settled after a good night’s sleep, runs started flowing from the Kiwi bats. The first hour of play on Monday accrued 56 runs in 13 overs and the 200 of the partnership was on the board. Dhoni made use of Jadeja with an attacking field, but the Kiwis had spent enough time on the crease by now to handle those tactics. McCullum raised his 150 and with that shifted his target to another double hundred in the series. India had half a chance of dismissing the Kiwi skipper when, after being give two lives on Monday, he edged Zaheer past the slip cordon wherein Shikhar Dhawan was standing at third slip. Watling though was solid as ever at the other end, and the 250-run partnership came up in the 126th over, just before the break. Starting at 440 for 5 after tea, the set batsmen had another string of batting records coming their way, with the pitch playing perfect foil to them. As Dhoni bowled his gentle medium-pace first up, McCullum and Watling crossed the 350-mark for their partnership in the 159th over.
