Sachin Tendulkar passed new milestones in his 157-Test career on Thursday, posting his 52nd half century and becoming the second most-capped player in history as India reached 278 for four on the second day of the series-opening match against New Zealand. Gambhir and Virender Sehwag put on 37 for the first wicket, Dravid and Tendulkar 35 for the third, Tendulkar and Laxman 61 for the fourth and Yuvraj Singh had added 60 with Tendulkar for the fifth by stumps.
India now trail New Zealand’s first innings total by one run. Play was called off early because of bad light which was offered to the Indian batsmen.
Tendulkar is in between two ex-Australian captains on the all-time Test list, surpassing All Border's 156 matches and moving closer to Stephen Waugh's record of 168.
He marked the occasion with an unbeaten 70, one of three batsmen to reach half centuries as India approached New Zealand's first innings total of 279 with six wickets in hand.
Gautam Gambhir made 72, Rahul Dravid 66 and V.V.S.Laxman 30 in an Indian batting performance which was steady but which never entirely crushed the resistance of the New Zealand team.
The 105-run second-wicket partnership between Gambhir and Dravid was the largest on a day on which India added 249 runs for four wickets in 83.5 overs.
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India steadily accumulated runs through the day in mostly favorable batting conditions but New Zealand's seam-based bowling attack persevered, stifling India's run-flow and preventing any partnership from becoming overwhelming.
The tourists trailed by one run at stumps but their immensely powerful batting lineup, including a top five with more than 100 Test centuries among them, never entirely dominated.
"I think we stuck to it pretty well," said New Zealand paceman Chris Martin, who ended the day with two for 53 from 20 overs. "I think the surface is (worth) a little bit more than three runs per over so we were pretty happy with containment and maybe (could have had) a couple more wickets if we'd taken our catches.
"I think they played us with a bit of respect. Most of their guys, apart from Sehwag, respect a good ball so we were glad to see him go early. We had to watch Tenedulkar but he was also riding his luck at times."
India resumed at 29 without loss after a 15-minute rain delay and lost Sehwag, who had moved from 22 overnight to 24, to a wasteful run-out in the third over.
The partnership between Gambhir and Dravid was India's most profitable. The left-hand, right-hand pair brought conflicting styles and batting strategies to the crease but accumulated runs with a similar sense of acquisitiveness.
Gambhir reached his 10th half century in Tests in 117 minutes from 97 balls with eight fours. He sought to negate any possible swing or seam on a pitch partly freshened by morning rain by walking out of his crease to meet the medium pacers.
He eventually fell to Chris Martin who achieved a little reverse swing and drew a lavish drive from the left-hander who delivered a catch to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum at shoulder height.
Dravid went on to his 54th Test half century from 108 balls with 10 fours but his partnership with Tendulkar was unusually short-lived. The pair have scored more than 5,000 Test runs in partnerships for India but had added only 35 when Dravid was bowled by Iain O'Brien.
New Zealand took the second new ball in the 81st over and immediately gained Laxman's wicket, caught at second slip by Ross Taylor off Martin. Laxman, on 15, had been dropped on the boundary by Iain O'Brien off Franklin and Tendulkar had offered a chance at 14 to Daniel Flynn off Daniel Vettori.
That was a fleeting glitch in Tendulkar's innings and the range of his strokeplay broadened as he became more confident at the crease, unleashing cuts which rifled with accuracy past a stranded offside field
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