Tim McIntosh comes backfrom horror Test

Tim McIntosh became only the 11th batsman to follow a pair with a century to continue what has been an impressive tour of India so far.

More importantly McIntosh became the first New Zealand opener in six years to score an away century. He was solid against pace, was happy to wait out his runs, escaped Zaheer Khan's grip slowly, finger by finger, and then settled in for a long workmanlike effort. Against spin he used his feet beautifully, coming down the track often, not always with the intent of hitting the ball hard.

The only time McIntosh looked like getting out was on 91, when he top-edged a sweep off Harbhajan over the keeper's head. Otherwise he was disciplined in a manner that would make Mark Richardson proud. The instructive part of his innings was the early battle against Zaheer, the only bowler he managed to face in Ahmedabad. At one point he had faced 29 balls in the series, all from Zaheer, without scoring a run. The first ball from a bowler other than Zaheer, though, was cover-driven handsomely for four. In Zaheer's next over, he repeated the cover-drive, and set his tent up.

His footwork against spin was a treat. He might not be the quickest in coming down the track, but he covered the turn and bounce well, often pushing the ball into gaps for ones and twos. The chip shot for six that took him to 65 was a beauty: he gave Ojha the charge, and then just played the pick-up over midwicket. Only once did he get violent upon charging at the bowler, moving from 94 to 98 with a straight hit off Harbhajan.

That was enough to scatter the field, and he picked two easy singles to reach his second century. Five minutes from stumps, though, he fell to his nemesis, Zaheer. This was the sixth time Zaheer had removed McIntosh in Tests, but for 93.5 more than what his average against India was.