Dravid and Gambhir lifted India in 1st test against New Zealand….

Opener Gautam Gambhir ground out an unbeaten 58 in the first session as India overcame an early loss to move to 108-1 at lunch on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday.Gambhir helped New Zealand to its only wicket of the morning when an error in judgment saw his in-form opening partner Virender Sehwag run out for 24 in the third over after the start of play was delayed 15 minutes by rain.

Sehwag rushed to 22 not out from 18 balls as India finished the first day on 29 in reply to New Zealand’s first innings of 279.He seemed set to continue the dominance he enjoyed over New Zealand’s bowlers in the recently concluded limited overs series, and was scoring effortlessly when Gambhir called him through for a rash second run only to be beaten by the ball at the non striker’s end.

Gambhir had turned the ball to mid-wicket and took an easy single before calling for a second run on the throw of left-armed allrounder James Franklin. Franklin scooped up the ball in his left hand and made a direct hit on the stumps from 30 meters, leaving an angry Sehwag a meter short of his ground.Gambhir was clearly chastened by his error but composed himself and built an unbeaten 72-run partnership with Rahul Dravid for the second wicket by lunch.Tendulkar has surpassed Australia’s Allan Border to become the second most capped player in test history behind another Australian, Steve Waugh.

Dravid and Tendulkar have generated more than 5,000 test runs for India, the pair behind only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of the West Indies and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer of Australia in test cricket partnerships.Their partnerships produce more than 50 runs per innings on average but they had added only 35 on Thursday when O’Brien ripped a ball through Dravid’s defense, knocking down his off stump.

Dravid batted with typical application for 183 minutes, hitting 12 fours while Gambhir occupied the crease for 174 minutes and hit 11 boundaries.Gambhir’s only previous blemish was to run out Sehwag for 24 early in the day, the start of which was delayed 15 minutes by the effects of rain. Gambhir turned a delivery to midwicket, took an easy single and called for the second as the ball was fielded by left-hander James Franklin.

Franklin’s throw knocked down the stumps at the non striker’s end with Sehwag still more than a meter out of his ground.Tendulkar offered a chance before tea, skying an attempted pull shot off Vettori when he was 11 but Daniel Flynn was unable to hold the catch running back on the leg side.