India v New Zealand, 2nd Test at Hyderabad Live

New Zealand will be fairly confident when they take on India in the second Test at Hyderabad on Friday, November 12. New Zealand had come into the Test series low on morale and confidence following their humiliating 4-0 defeat in the ODI series in the hands of Bangladesh. >

However, a spirited display in the first Test at Ahmedabad would have given them a lot of confidence. They were close to an upset and were thwarted by a fine partnership between VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh on the final day. >

They came back strongly in the third and fourth days after India had piled on a huge score. Jesse Ryder was magnificent in his comeback game but New Zealand would be more delighted with the debutant Kane Williamson, who displayed a fine attitude and made a wonderful century. Chris Martin was exceptional on the fourth day picking up five wickets to put India on the back foot.

India, on the other hand would be happy that they saved the last game and would want to be the dominators this time to justify their top rank in the ICC standings. Their top order crumbled in the second innings of the last game and the form of Gautam Gambhir is still a worrying sign for India. He is due for a big score and would want to do well with Murali Vijay breathing down his neck in the pecking order.

Rahul Dravid got a hundred in the first innings but he looked very nervous in the beginning. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni were poor in the last game and need to add some valuable runs lower down the order if India were to force the issue and post a big total.

Harbhajan Singh played well with the bat to save the game for India but his bowling form is still a worrying sign. He could not get any purchase off the wicket at Motera but he should be a force if the wicket crumbles in the final days at Hyderabad.

This could be an interesting game but all depends on how the wicket behaves.