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Stats: Rahane fifth Indian to hit a hundred at No. 7 overseas
Ajinkya Rahane his maiden Test century to help India take firm control of the second Test as New Zealand lurched to 24 for one at the close of play on the second day at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Saturday.
The hosts are still 222 runs behind India's first innings of 438 and face an uphill battle to save the match after opener Peter Fulton was trapped lbw for one by Zaheer Khan in the second over of their second innings.
Rahane had anchored the visitors' innings with a compact approach in holding up his end as he featured in productive partnerships with Virat Kohli (38) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (68) to help establish what should be a match-winning lead. He pulled Corey Anderson to the midwicket fence for his 15th boundary and raised his arms in triumph as his team mates all stood and applauded. His previous best was 96 against South Africa in Durban.
Statistical highlights from Day 2:
# Ajinkya Rahane (118 off 158 balls) recorded his maiden Test century, surpassing the 96 vs South Africa at Durban in December last year. He became the fifth Indian batsman to record a Test hundred at Basin Reserve, joining Gautam Gambhir (167 in 2009), Ajit Wadekar (143 in 1968), Sachin Tendulkar (113 in 1998) and Mohammad Azharuddin (103 not out in 1998).
# Rahane is the fifth Indian batsman to hit a hundred while batting at No. 7 away from home. Kapil Dev remains the only one to have registered two hundreds - 100 not out at Port of Spain in March 1983 and 129 at Port Elizabeth in December 1992.
Dhoni has hit three fifties in three innings at Basin Reserve
# Mahendra Singh Dhoni (68) recorded his highest score in New Zealand in Tests, eclipsing the 56 not out at Wellington in April 2009. Overall he has registered three fifties in consecutive innings in New Zealand - all at Basin Reserve in Wellington.
# Dhoni averages 88.00 - 176 in three innings at Basin Reserve, including three fifties. His sixth fifty against New Zealand is his 29th in Tests.
# Rahane and Dhoni were associated in a stand of 120 runs -- India's highest for the seventh wicket at Wellington and their second best in New Zealand, next only to the 128 between Kiran
More and Sachin Tendulkar in the 1989-90 Napier Test.
# Ishant Sharma (26 off 50 balls) recorded his highest Test score outside the sub-continent besides posting his highest score against New Zealand.
# Dhoni completed his 3,000 runs as Indian captain in Tests - his tally being 3037 at an average of 42.18 in 53 Tests, including five centuries and 20 fifties. Sunil Gavaskar (3449 (ave.50.72) in 47 Tests) was the first to achieve the distinction.
# Rahane and Dhoni have provided the 12th instance when India's number seven and eight have recorded half-centuries in the same Test innings.
# India (438) posted their highest total at Basin Reserve, eclipsing the 434 for seven wickets declared in April 2009.
# India took a first innings lead of 246 against New Zealand - their highest in a Test match in New Zealand in the first innings. The lead is their second highest against New Zealand in the first innings in Tests behind the 376-run lead in the Nagpur Test in November 2010. The last instance when India had a first innings lead of 200 or more outside sub-continent was against New Zealand in the 2008-09 Hamilton Test.
# India had a run-rate of 4.26 in their second innings - their second highest outside the sub-continent when they have managed atleast 400 - their highest is 4.61 during their total of 482 off 104.3 overs against New Zealand at Auckland in February 1990.
Dhawan continues good run with the bat
# Shikhar Dhawan (98) registered his third highest score in Tests behind the 187 on Test debut against Australia in March last year and 115 against New Zealand at Auckland in February last week.
# Dhawan has amassed 213 runs at an average of 71.00, including a hundred - the highest by an Indian batsman in the current series. He has scored 200 runs or more in a Test series for the first time.
# Dhawan became the fifth Indian player to be dismissed in the nervous nineties against New Zealand in New Zealand in Tests. Rusi Surti (99 at Auckland in 1968), Navjot Singh Sidhu (98 at Hamilton in 1994), W V Raman (96 at Christchurch in 1990) and Manoj Prabhakar (95 at Napier in 1990) had been the previous victims.
# JB Watling became the third New Zealand wicketkeeper to effect five dismissals in a Test innings at Basin Reserve, Wellington. He has joined Roy Harford (vs India in 1967-68) and Warren Lees (vs Sri Lanka in 1982-83).
# Watling became the first New Zealand wicketkeeper to effect five dismissals in a Test innings against India twice - Auckland and Wellington Tests in 2014. In three consecutive Tests, he has effected five dismissals or more in a Test innings - the first New Zealand wicketkeeper to do so.
# With 14 dismissals in three innings in the current rubber, Watling created a New Zealand record against India in a Test series, eclipsing the 13 by Ian Smith in five innings in 1980-81. It is a New Zealand record in a two-Test series.