AHMEDABAD: Jesse Ryder struck a remarkable 103 and shared a 194 run partnership with debutant Kane Williamson to defy world No. 1 India on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand Saturday. Ryder struck 10 fours and a six in his 205-ball knock while Williamson was equally impressive in making 87 not out as New Zealand reached 331-5 at stumps at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. That left the visitors 156 runs adrift of India's first-innings 487. Ryder completed his third century – all of which have come against India – with a delightful four in the covers but was trapped lbw by Shanthakumaran Sreesanth one ball later in the day's last over. India's bowlers struggled in unhelpful conditions, with a dodgy caught behind decision involving Williamson and a dropped catch of Ryder adding to their woes. The 20-year-old Williamson, who scored his maiden one-day century during New Zealand's recent tour of Bangladesh, however showed remarkable application in his nearly five-hour stay at the wicket. He even dealt calmly with a chest-high beamer from Sreesanth, which prompted Australian umpire Steve Davis to have a quiet word with the fast bowler. Ryder was dropped on 11 in the slips by Rahul Dravid, who failed to latch on to the catch on his right despite getting his fingers to the ball, the unlucky bowler being Sreesanth. Ryder, playing his first Test in 15 months, had struck 201 against India in Napier last year to help New Zealand draw the match. India's spin duo Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh earlier removed Brendon McCullum (65) and Ross Taylor (56) shortly before lunch after they had put on 104 runs for the third wicket. McCullum, opening for the first time in Tests, completed his 17th Test half-century with a single in the covers after driving Sreesanth twice for fours. The Kiwi batsman tackled the spinners with ease as well, whipping Ojha for a power-packed four wide off the mid-on and smashing two boundaries in Harbhajan's first over of the day. Taylor provided good support to his partner, reaching his 10th Test fifty with a boundary off Harbhajan, but he fell soon after to the off-spinner, offering a simple catch at short mid-wicket to Venkatsai Laxman. McCullum missed the chance to make a big score after being stumped by an alert Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who whipped off the bails with the batsman's back foot on the line. His 122-ball innings contained 11 boundaries. England struggles England batsman Kevin Pietersen talked up the positives despite his side appearing to receive a stark reality check ahead of the Ashes in its three-day match against struggling Western Australia at the WACA Ground. After its bowlers had made a positive impression on the first day to keep WA to 242-8 (dec) in the tour opener, England's top order batsmen failed to impress on the second day Saturday. The tourists slumped to 117-7 before an unbeaten half-century from Chris Broad, who also took three wickets on the first day, enabled it to declare at 223-8 at tea on the second day. Then the home side, which has been struggling in the domestic first-class competition, cruised to 109-1 at stumps, an overall lead of 128. – Agence France
