The Hindu : Tuffey & Co. take India apart

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 21, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Tuffey & Co. take India apart

By S. Dinakar

New Zealand speedster Daryl Tuffey, who tormented the Indians by using the conditions to the hilt, scalps skipper Sourav Ganguly, one of his four victims, snapped up by Stephen Fleming, on a rain-shortened second day of the second Test in Hamilton on Friday. -- Photo: N. Balaji.

Hamilton Dec. 20. Cricket is often a battle of the mind. The moment self-belief disappears, confidence evaporates.

Cricket is also a game where the `conditions' rule. One side attempts to conquer it, the other tries to exploit it.

Survival can be hard, and tough men do survive. But then, the Indian batting on this tour has displayed a soft underbelly.

In yet another tale of meek surrender, India found itself in a hole in the second National Bank Test, the side fighting for its life at 92 for eight at the Westpac Park, here, on Friday.

Darryl Tuffey, who found his rhythm in a jiffy and gave nothing away, and the pacy Shane Bond combined well on a green-top, the former picking up four for 12 in nine overs of superb control, length and direction.

The duo's task was made easier by yet another case of display bereft of character by the Indian line-up with its `glittering array' of stars when the Test finally got underway at 4.30 p.m.

After just 38 overs of play on the second day, following a ball-less first day, the Indians, after capitulating for 161 and 121 in the first Test, were running for cover yet again.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming called right, and then on a seaming pitch that had a fair amount of moisture, the Indian batsmen purchased the ticket to nowhere, lacking the determination to slug it out, playing away from the body when there was a need to tighten up the defence.

Setting an example to his more illustrious colleagues was the young Parthiv Patel, who got behind the line of the ball, swayed away from the short-pitched ones and was unbeaten on eight, consuming 44 deliveries in the process.

V.V.S. Laxman, who finally gathered his first run of this series, made the highest contribution with 23, while Harbhajan Singh slogged his way to 20, a sad reflection on the innings.

Tuffey struck in only the second over of the match, when he had Sanjay Bangar taken splendidly at gully by Jacob Oram, even as the batsman attempted to play a swinging delivery on the on-side.

And Virender Sehwag cut a sorry picture when he, after taking his eye away, presented a limp bat to a rising delivery from Bond, the ball lobbing off the glove to Mark Richardson at short-leg.

Tuffey, who wasted little time in hitting the right length, ended a probing first spell of 4-4-0-1, and Oram maintained the pressure from the far end.

It was smart captaincy by Fleming when he brought back Tuffey from the pavilion end, and the 24-year-old Northern Districts bowler, on his home ground, caused a major dent to India's aspirations, opening up Tendulkar with an off-cutter for Scott Styris to snap up the snick at third slip.

Tendulkar had made just nine, India was reduced to 26 for three, and Tuffey had sensational figures of 5-5-0-2 at this point.

India required steely resolve from its captain, but Sourav Ganguly had just got to five when the southpaw, playing away from his body, edged Tuffey to Fleming at first slip.

Meanwhile vice-captain Rahul Dravid, wisely looking to go forward to counter the movement than being caught out at the crease, appeared the best batsman technically to survive on this pitch, when he succumbed to a lovely leg-cutter from Tuffey, that left him from middle stump and forced the batsman to nick to a diving 'keeper Robbie Hart.

Laxman pushed Tuffey to mid-off and scrambled across for a single to make the bowler concede his first run in his seventh over and then thumped the paceman to the cover fence. But when he was just getting into his stride, in the company of a fighting Parthiv Patel, Laxman drove away from his body, dragging a Bond delivery to his stumps.

Harbhajan swung his bat around desperately at Bond, picked up five boundaries that were, both, chancy and streaky, and was caught at mid-on off a no-ball before Bond finally rearranged his stumps with a slower full length delivery.

And when the Oram yorked Zaheer Khan with the first delivery of the day's final over, India's tale of woe was complete.

"We didn't let the Indians off the hook,'' said Fleming and he was right.

He admitted that the conditions were not ideal for batting, but added "you make your own luck in the game.'' About consolidating on the gains on this pitch, he said, "We will have to bat with commitment.''

With Bond as the spearhead, Tuffey has a more supportive role, but in familiar conditions, he can strike in a telling fashion with his movement and three-quarters length. Before this match, Tuffey had 21 wickets in his last three Tests in New Zealand.

``I got into a nice rhythm. The wind is not a factor here like in Wellington. Myself and Bond combine well. He has pace, I am not express, I move the ball,'' he said later.

The sun was out in all its glory on Friday, but with certain areas of the outfield still wet, there was another long wait to be endured for the teams. ``We will talk to the two captains at 3 p.m. and then decide,'' said umpire Daryll Harper. And though certain pockets of the outfield were not completely dry, both the sides had enough reason to continue.

The onus was on India, that replaced Ajit Agarkar with paceman Tinu Yohannan, to level the two-Test series, while New Zealand was looking for a clean sweep.

As it turned out, only one team made the most of those eventful 38 overs. It was an `Easy Kill' for the New Zealand pace pack.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA — 1st innings:

S. Bangar c Oram b Tuffey 1

(4b)

V. Sehwag c Richardson b Bond 1

(21b)

R. Dravid c Hart b Tuffey 9

(56b)

S. Tendulkar c Styris b Tuffey 9

(31b 1x4)

S. Ganguly c Fleming b Tuffey 5

(9b, 1x4)

V.V.S. Laxman b Bond 23

(43b, 5x4)

P. Patel (batting) 8

(44b, 1x4)

H. Singh b Bond 20

(9b, 5x4)

Z. Khan b Oram 0

(7b)

Extras (lb-12, nb-4) 16

— —

Total (for eight wkts.) 92

— —

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Bangar), 2-11 (Sehwag), 3-26 (Tendulkar), 4-34 (Ganguly), 5-40 (Dravid), 6-70 (Laxman), 7-91 (Harbhajan), 8-92 (Zaheer).
New Zealand Bowling: Bond 14-7-33-3 (nb-1); Tuffey 9-6-12-4 (nb-1); Oram 9.1-1-21-1 (nb-3); Styris 2-0-10-0; Astle 3-2-4-0.