At a loss of words to explain India's poor performance, batsman Shikhar Dhawan today conceded that New Zealand have turned the tables on his side in the ongoing second cricket Test but insisted that the visitors still have a chance to not just save but win the match.
The hosts took a 325-run lead at the end of the fourth day's play at Basin Reserve, with skipper Brendon McCullum scoring an unbeaten 281. But Dhawan chose to stay positive after what was a throughly disappointing day for Indian bowlers.
"There is still one more day left tomorrow. We will try our best to win but even if we lose, there's a lot to learn from it. There is disappointment but we have played some good cricket, especially getting them out for a low score in the first innings," Dhawan said after the day's play.
"Then we batted well in tough conditions and basically dominated the match till yesterday. But today they turned the tables on us. Tomorrow in the morning, we will look to get them out and then whatever the target is, we will bat according to the situation," he added.
McCullum was involved in a world record stand of 352 runs for the sixth wicket with keeper-batsman BJ Watling (124). The duo thwarted Indian hopes of victory on the third or fourth day, after the hosts were reduced to 94/5 at one stage.
"The wicket has improved a lot. It has gotten slower as the game has gone on. McCullum and Watling batted beautifully of course. They respected the good balls and didn't give us any chances the whole day. They batted very well," Dhawan said, praising the batsmen.
The pair might not have given any major chances during the day but McCullum did offer an outside edge that leapt past Dhawan at third slip, whilst no one else was present in the slip cordon. He was also dropped twice on the third day by Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli, the latter a simpler chance.
