Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed his maiden Test century but V.V.S. Laxman fell short of his ton after the duo took India to safe shores at tea on the final day of the opening cricket Test against New Zealand here on Monday.
Harbhajan, who made his highest score of 69 in the first innings, bettered that display to remain unconquered on 110 off 179 balls with the help of three sixes and 10 fours.
But his seventh-wicket partner Laxman missed his century by nine runs as India, reeling at 15 for five at one stage on Sunday, piled on 255 for 8 at tea for an overall lead of 283 with Harbhajan and Pragyan Ojha (7) at the crease.
With just one session left, the match is headed for a draw, which will be the sixth out of 11 Tests at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. Harbhajan, who put on 163 runs for the seventh wicket with Laxman to guide India to safety, reached his maiden hundred in style with a six off Vettori.
Laxman was wrongly given out leg before wicket to rival team captain Daniel Vettori by umpire Steve Davis as TV replays showed the ball had deflected on to the pad off the inside edge of the bat.
Laxman and Harbhajan took India from a difficult 65 for six last evening at the fall of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wicket and were not separated till close to the tea interval when Vettori won the verdict against the former. The duo was together for 10 minutes under four hours and faced 328 balls.
Vettori also sent back Zaheer Khan off the next ball, to another questionable decision by the same umpire as the bat and pad were close together when the ball hit its target, to be on a hat-trick which was staved off by Ojha.
Earlier, Laxman and Harbhajan made sure that India did not lose a wicket in the pre-lunch period of play by cautious aggression. Harbhajan was the aggressor complementing Laxman's vigilant stay as the hosts made 164 for 6 to be ahead by 192 runs.
The duo, especially Harbhajan, were in a more aggressive mood in the post-lunch period as they raised 200 of the innings in the 11th over after resumption with the off spinner on 85 compared to Laxman's 74.
Harbhajan was fortunate to be dropped by wrecker-in-chief Chris Martin off his own bowling when seven short of the coveted three-figure mark when the batsman tried to flick and offered a difficult return catch.
Zaheer Khan fell off the first ball but Ojha prevented Vettori from achieving a hat-trick.Harbhajan flat-batted, swept, drove on the up and swung his way second half century of the match with a couple off wrecker-in-chief Chris Martin after Laxman had completed his a few minutes earlier.
While Laxman's 27th half century came in a little over 240 minutes and off 154 balls when he pull-swept Jeetan Patel for his first boundary and fourth of the knock, Harbhajan's contained 5 fours and a six and took him only 106 minutes and 78 balls to compile.