India edge towards victory

12 April 2012

India are within touching distance of an emphatic win in the third Test against New Zealand but could find their chances of victory dashed by predicted bad weather in Wellington.

Having set the Black Caps a mammoth target of 617 runs to chase down, the visitors had restricted them to 167 for four when bad light ended play early on the fourth day at the Basin Reserve.

It left New Zealand needing a further 450 runs to win, with Ross Taylor (69) and James Franklin (26) to resume on the final day.

However, with rain expected on Tuesday, India may be forced to settle for a 1-0 series win - their first Test series triumph on New Zealand soil since 1968 - after they won the Hamilton Test by 10 wickets and drew the match in Napier.

Zaheer Khan, who took five for 65 in the first innings, and Harbhajan Singh got two wickets apiece, while Rahul Dravid went past Mark Waugh's record of 181 catches in Tests when he took a low catch at third slip to combine with Khan for Tim McIntosh's wicket before lunch.

India batted for just over an hour at the start of the day to push their lead beyond the 600-run mark as captain MS Dhoni finished with an unbeaten 56 and Khan ended 18 not out.

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