Respecting the game paid off, says Ryder

“I respect my game, I just stick to my processes,” Ryder told newsmen. “Luckily for me, it just paid off. Seeing the ball pretty well at the moment helps as well.”

Ryder has a wonderful record against the Indians, having scored three centuries and a fifty in five Tests, but he was all praise for the manner in which the opposition bowled on Saturday.

“They bowled pretty well to start with and we lost a few crucial wickets early doors, which put us on the back foot,” said Ryder, extremely miserly with his words.

“That was probably the main reason why today was in their favour, to start with. We are a good 100 runs short from where we wanted to be after the start we had yesterday.”

Virender Sehwag threw his hand away after an entertaining 96, missing a slog-sweep off Daniel Vettori and losing middle stump.

“He was playing that way the whole innings, so I didn’t find it bizarre at all,” Ryder said of Sehwag’s dismissal. “He was one shot away from getting another hundred but we were lucky enough to take his wicket.

“It definitely helps us, getting the wickets of Sehwag and Gambhir. We were on the back foot during the day while fielding. To take those two wickets at the end definitely helps us out leading into tomorrow.”