Gautam Gambhir ground his way to his fifth Test century as India edged closer to saving the second Test against New Zealand by the close of play on the fourth day on Sunday. The tourists, who won the first match of the three-Test series in Hamilton by 10 wickets, reached 252 for two at stumps, 62 runs behind New Zealand's 619 for nine declared after being dismissed for 305 in their first innings and forced to follow on. Gambhir was on 102, while Sachin Tendulkar was on 58 – his 52nd Test half century – and with a day still to play he is well placed to convert that into his 43rd Test century on the benign McLean Park wicket on Monday. “It's hard to see any wear or tear on it (the pitch),” New Zealand coach Andy Moles said. “You're looking for mistakes from the batsmen rather than the ball misbehaving ... and as we've seen in the first innings there's a bit of tail in this Indian team. They've got a magnificent front five or six but as we've seen if we bowl well and things go our way we can get quick wickets.” Gambhir, who was on 14 when play began on Sunday, was watchful all day with few false strokes and only one nervous moment when a James Franklin outswinger squared him up while he was on 84. Initial reactions from the New Zealand fielders were that wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum had dropped a sharp chance, though television replays showed Gambhir had been comprehensively beaten and the ball had brushed his back leg. The 27-year-old, who had spent almost an hour stuck on 83 after tea finally brought up his milestone with an aggressive lofted shot over wide mid-on for his 14th boundary. He had taken 265 balls to achieve the mark. Rahul Dravid (62) was the only wicket to fall on Sunday after he had shared in a four-hour, 133-run partnership with Gambhir, though his dismissal was controversial. Dravid was given out caught in close by Jamie How off Daniel Vettori by umpire Ian Orchard, but the batsman was visibly upset with the decision and television replays showed the ball had ballooned off his front pad without touching his bat or gloves. “It was a tough grinding day for us,” said Dravid. “We've not been put in this position a lot over the last year. We found ourselves with our backs to the wall yesterday and we needed some character, we needed some fight and we showed that. “We could have rolled over but we've fought back hard.” “There's been some honest toil out there today,” said all-rounder James Franklin, who bowled 11 overs in India's innings at a cost of 23 runs. “We've seen how good a wicket it is. Gambhir played a great innings, batting all day with good support from Dravid and Tendulkar. “But we'll give it another shot tomorrow and if we can get three wickets in first session who knows?” Franklin said it was important to remain patient, “get the ball in the right areas and hope they make mistakes.” “Unfortunately, they didn't make a lot of those today.” Sri Lanka retains coaches for World Cup Sri Lankan cricket authorities said on Sunday it had extended the contracts of the team's two foreign coaches, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace, until the next World Cup in 2011. Chief coach Bayliss, from Australia, and his British assistant Farbrace, who was injured in the militant attack against the side in Lahore earlier this month, joined Sri Lanka in 2007. “We have decided to extend the contracts of the coaches,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishanta Ranatunga said. “They are doing a good job and we want them to continue.” Kumar Sangakkara took over as captain after the tour of Pakistan was abandoned due to the attack on the team bus.
