Hamilton, March 20: The umpires on the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand were stuck in a Catch 22 situation, courtesy catches that were not clear, or so it seemed. But both decisions went India’s way.

First, Jesse Ryder at point dived full length to claim Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s catch off Iain O’Brien even as the ball hit the ground before it got stuck in his fingers. Dhoni stood his ground and the field umpires, after consulting the third umpire, ruled him not out. The first wicket in the Kiwi innings was controversial. Sachin Tendulkar caught Tim McIntosh in the slips off Zaheer Khan in the first over of the innings but there were doubts in the minds of home players even as television footage was inconclusive.

However, Tendulkar was confident the catch was clean. "I was 100 per cent confident that I had taken the catch, otherwise I wouldn’t have appealed," he said after the day’s play. "I have seen the replays and I have also seen my fingers under the ball. Sometimes on camera it looks different. If the umpires were in doubt they would have definitely called for the third umpire," Tendulkar added.