Kiwis show their mettle

By S. Dinakar

COLOMBO, JULY 26. A think-tank that refuses to think straight, three opening pairs in three games, needless chopping and changing, and the resultant uncertainty among the players...the Coca-Cola triangular one-day series is turning out to be a nightmare for the Indians.

The 67-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand at the Premadasa Stadium here on Thursday was a manifestation of a bigger malice. The lesson was: do not compromise on the eleven, have a game-plan and stick to it.

The Indians have entered the three matches with only three specialist bowlers, and even if they have got away with that folly, the shuffling in the batting order has gone against the team's interest.

Indeed, combination of these factors has played havoc with India's performance in the tournament. True, that great little player Sachin Tendulkar is not around, but the side could have displayed some character at least.

With three defeats in three games, the future appears bleak for the Indians in this tournament. But Sourav Ganguly's men have only themselves to blame for the situation they are in at the moment.

The target of 201 was gettable on this wicket even if there were a couple of `spots,' but this is a side that is desperately short of self-belief. This absence of character surfaced yet again with the seniors not delivering and the youngsters lacking the burning ambition to conquer.

Disastrous start

As usual, the start was disastrous, Sourav Ganguly adjudged leg- before to paceman Kyle Mills, the delivery holding its line. However, the Indian captain indicated that he had got a nick to the ball.

Worse was to follow. Laxman's dismissal was shocking, the No. 3 batsman dragging a widish delivery from Darryl Tuffey on to the stumps.

The latest lamb to the slaughter - middle-order batsman thrust into the opening slot - Virender Sehwag, at least showed some fight, picking three boundaries in Mills' fourth over, driving the bowler square and through the covers, before lofting him over mid-wicket.

During this phase, when Sehwag and Dravid were together, a small part of the surface near the good length area seemed to have chipped off, and the Kiwis, indulging in gamesmanship, made sure that the Indians were aware about this. Still the Indians should not have allowed this to play on their minds.

The two Indians raised 50 runs when Sehwag (33, 54b, 3x4) backed too far down the pitch and bowler Vettori, after collecting the push from Dravid, hit the stumps. Even then, the Delhi batsman seemed to have made his ground, and was probably unlucky that third umpire Mr. Jayasundara did not give him the benefit of the doubt.

Badani, a batsman who has often shown a cool head in crisis situations, walked in next. But, this time he appeared like a cat on a hot tin roof.

The Tamil Nadu left-hander jumped out to Vettori and struck him through the covers, and in the same over danced down again, miscued the shot, and stand-in skipper McMillan, running with his back to the ball, took a well-judged catch at mid-off. It was 66 for four now.

And when Dravid (27, 56b, 1x4) made his exit, the delivery from pace-bowling all-rounder Jacob Oram clipping his pads before disturbing the stumps, it was only a matter of time for the Indians.

Yuveraj Singh, coming in at No. 6 this time, produced a few audacious strokes, off-driving and pulling Astle for boundaries, but chose the wrong ball to cut from leggie Chris Harris and 'keeper Adam Parore did the rest.

Pinching quick singles when men like Harris and Lou Vincent are on the prowl is risky business and Sameer Dighe and Reetinder Singh Sodhi realised this the hard way.

Harris, who relished bowling on this pitch, returning astonishing figures of 7-2-9-2, castled Harbhajan Singh, and it was all over in the 40th over for the Indians, Man-of-the-Match Dion Nash rattling the timber to signal the end of Nehra and India.

The match got underway an hour late due to some wetness of the pitch - the game was played on the strip used for the first two games - and this also meant the number of overs were reduced to 48 a side. It was a bold decision when Ganguly decided to field.

Ganguly comes good with the ball

And, Ganguly made a telling contribution with the ball himself, coming on when the Kiwis were coasting, and finishing with 9-1-32-3, a nagging spell of wicket-to-wicket seam bowling that pegged back the Kiwis just when they were poised to take off.

The Kiwis started on a rousing note, Mathew Sinclair driving the first delivery of the match from Zaheer Khan to the cover boundary, and soon flicking Ashish Nehra to the fence.

However, Nehra, who came in for Debasis Mohanty for this game having recovered from the viral infection, struck, getting Astle to push at an away going delivery for 'keeper Sameer Dighe to pouch the snick. Nehra was unlucky not to scalp Sinclair soon, Virendra Sehwag putting down a simple chance at second slip.

The beefy Jacob Oram, filling in for Stephen Fleming at No. 3, launched into the bowling with some heavy hitting, a powerful flat-batted straight drive off Nehra standing out.

Sinclair, gradually re-discovering his touch, produced a few elegant shots and this was the best phase of the Kiwi innings, leaving the Indians rattled for a while.

Oram may have been a touch lucky when his edge off Zaheer fell just short of Dravid at first slip, but the Kiwi continued his attack, slog-sweeping Harbhajan Singh for a six, soon after the ace offie was introduced into the attack.

The two had put on 64 for the second wicket in 78 balls when the left-handed Oram (40, 37b, 5x4, 1x6) attempted a silly reverse sweep off Harbhajan and Dravid at slip, diving to his left, plucked a fine catch.

At the other end, Ganguly was making the ball wobble around. He did not have to wait long to taste success, Sinclair's (36, 71b, 3x4) uppish flick being splendidly taken by Dravid - the vice- captain had a good day on the field.

Stand-in skipper McMillan, his lack of footwork apparent again, perished to an indiscreet lofted shot off Ganguly, Badani completing the catch at mid-on.

And Lou Vincent, who scratched around for his 16, became Ganguly's third victim, his uppish hit being taken by Laxman at mid-on. Ganguly gave little away, both in terms of width and length, and it is surprising why the Indian skipper bowls so occasionally these days. The skipper's success with the ball also meant support seamer Reetinder Singh Sodhi did not get to bowl a single over. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Yuveraj Singh may have tasted little success with the bat in the tournament, but his left-arm spin has come in handy for India. Today, the Punjab youngster did more than just chip in, returning figures of 10-0-24-2.

He did not attempt anything spectacular, stuck to the basics, and reaped the rewards, scalping Adam Parore and Chris Harris, two crucial strikes for India.

Parore, always dangerous, had not yet opened his account when he attempted to cut Yuveraj, only to drag the ball on to the stumps. And Harris, a spirited customer, flicked Yuveraj into Badani's hands at square leg. From 85 for one to seven down for 143, the Kiwis had rapidly lost ground.

But then, Dion Nash, who had recovered from a stomach ailment that kept him out of Wednesday's game, and Daniel Vettori are useful batsmen down the order, and the duo put on a vital 43 in 44 balls, Vettori clouting Harbhajan for a six on the leg-side and Nash steering Harbhajan, sweeping Sehwag and glancing Zaheer for boundaries.

The partnership ended with Sehwag trapping Vettori in front, when the batsman attempted to reverse-sweep the part-time off-spinner. Not much later Zaheer completed a spectacular return catch, flinging himself forward to hold the looping ball, after Kyle Mills miscued a pull.

The fighting Nash (42, 57b, 3x4) took New Zealand to the 200-mark before his stinging flick off Sehwag was well held by Ganguly at mid-wicket.

The Indians had restricted the Kiwis, but the ground fielding left much to be desired. Too many singles and twos were conceded easily, and the throwing was not always on the mark.

Earlier, the Indians made two changes with Badani replacing Amay Khurasiya and Nehra coming in for Mohanty. Nash was back in the Kiwi eleven at the expense of off-spinner Bradburn, and he did make a difference.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Indians have a good day
Next     : High time Indians changed defeatist attitude