Monday, Dec 30, 2002
Monday, Dec 30, 2002 |
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Cricket
By S. Dinakar
GETTING HIS ACT RIGHT, BUT... Virender Sehwag, who finally came to terms with the conditions in New Zealand, gives Kyle Mills the treatment. Despite his strokeful hundred, it was Sehwag's suicidal run out that tilted the match in favour of the Kiwis. — Photo: N. Balaji
Virender Sehwag's dash to reach the crease proved in vain, Darryl Tuffey once again tilting the scales, this time with his marvellously athletic fielding. India eventually went down in the second ODI by 35 runs at a packed McLean Park here on Sunday. New Zealand leads the seven match series 2-0, and the Indians now have a mountain to climb after yet another setback, this time on a `good batting' pitch. Sehwag, with his nemesis Shane Bond rested for the game, produced a strokeful 108. But India did not deserve to win on this day, not after an awful fielding display, not after some senseless batting. The Indians must have conceded at least 25 extra runs due to atrocious lapses on the field. To make matters worse, they were docked two overs for not maintaining the over-rate. Instead of chasing 255 for victory in 48 overs, it could have so easily been 230 in 50. But then, if a side doesn't get its basics right it is not going to progress far. Without Bond's firepower the Kiwi attack was no more than disciplined, but then the Indians took the ticket to nowhere. Coach John Wright has shouted himself hoarse about the importance of running between the wickets, but what one witnessed from the Indians defied logic.
Perfect recipe for disaster
How else could one explain Harbhajan Singh taking a swipe at every delivery of a Tuffey over and then picking a single off the last ball, with Sehwag, striking the ball so well, watching helplessly from the other end. The idea should have been to give the man in form as much strike as possible. In the event, it was hardly surprising that a couple of overs later, Harbhajan took off for a risky single, with Sehwag, the key man in Sunday's contest, ludicrously running towards the danger end. Earlier, Sehwag himself was guilty of cutting left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori to Stephen Fleming at point and taking off without looking at his partner. India lost an important player in this mix-up, vice-captain Rahul Dravid having to sacrifice his wicket. To his credit, Sehwag essayed some telling strokes, driving pleasingly in front of the wicket, taking full advantage of the short square boundaries, forcing square off the backfoot, and pulling the bowlers, jumping down the track to dismiss Vettori over long-on for a six, and getting the maximum after cutting Oram.
Virender Sehwag, who scored 108 runs, being run out by New Zealand bowler Darryl Tuffey during the second One Day International match at Napier on Sunday. — Photo: N. Balaji
This has been a difficult tour for Sehwag, and it was indeed a memorable moment for him when he edged Oram to the third man fence to reach the three-figure mark. But that was a rare bright moment for India. ``This is not the team that performed consistently for a period of eight to ten months,'' said Wright adding that the side had not displayed the hunger and intensity required to win. He did have a point. Skipper Ganguly, back opening the innings, pushed outside the line of a Tuffey delivery that straightened to see his stumps rearranged in the first over. Later on he did a `no show' at the post match press conference that is bound to send the wrong signals. V.V.S. Laxman drove and cut Kyle Mills for three sparkling fours in an over. But finally driving away from the body he edged the paceman, for 'keeper Brenden McCullum to effect the first of his five dismissals, the best being a soccer goalkeeper style flying catch when Harbhajan glided seamer Paul Hitchcock. Dravid flicked and drove with aplomb before his sad dismissal. Yuveraj Singh, quite inexplicably walked out to Vettori as if in a daze, and was stumped by a mile. Mohammed Kaif, easily the best runner between the wickets in the Indian team, dished out some smart cricket, playing second fiddle to Sehwag, even as the fifth-wicket pair raised 78 in 13 overs. However, Fleming, ringing in the changes well, brought back, Tuffey and Oram, and the ploy worked. Kaif nicked Tuffey to McCullum and then the 'keeper dived to his right to hold a splendid catch, when Sanjay Bangar, in for Shiv Sundar Das, edged Oram. From 182 for four, India was now 187 for six. Then with Sehwag's dismissal the writing was on the wall for India. The Napier pitch had less in it for the pacemen, and this meant the Sunday crowd witnessed some fine strokes. However, some tardy fielding from the Indians helped the Kiwi cause. Rahul Dravid too had a forgettable day behind the stumps, failing to stump and catch Mathew Sinclair off Harbhajan when the batsman was on 22 and 37, and letting the ball go between his legs in the end overs. However this job has been thrust on him, and although he strives manfully, enduring the physical burdens that go with this demanding role, he is bound to have his off-days. Ganguly, finally called right and predictably opted to chase. Fleming's aggressive tactics against Srinath, who was the pick once again, only resulted in Mohammed Kaif, running to his right from mid-off, taking a wonderful catch at cover with his back to the ball. That was in the third over and the Indians had to wait till the 33rd over for their next success as Nathan Astle and local boy Sinclair put on 136. The aggressive opener had a stroke of fortune early on though, when he played on, attempting to pull Zaheer Khan, only to see Asoka de Silva signal a `no ball.' It was the right call too. Astle, a lovely striker of the ball, cut Aashish Nehra to the fence, and then launched into an expansive cover-drive against the left-arm paceman, while Sinclair, in the running for a place in the World Cup squad, combined caution with aggression, picking runs off the pacemen, and then, when Harbhajan was introduced, dismissing him over long-off for a six. Harbhajan, back in the side, might have been unlucky not to have consumed Sinclair, however, the Sardar did provide width to the batsmen on the off-side. Actually, having picked Anil Kumble for the first game, it was harsh on the part of the team-management to have left him out of the second ODI, when he had figures of 7-1-15-0 at Auckland. Astle and Sinclair reached their respective half-centuries, and were looking good for more, when Ganguly achieved the breakthrough, Astle pulling to Zaheer at the square-leg fence. Sinclair was kicking along well, when he chose to reverse sweep Harbhajan and only succeeded in gloving the ball to Dravid. Srinath was in the thick of things trapping the out-of-sort Craig McMillan leg-before, scoring a direct hit at the non-striker's end from mid-off to catch Jacob Oram short of his crease, and then foxing the busy Vincent (34 off 32) with a slower delivery. Zaheer consumed McCullum, Yuveraj holding a running catch at point. Zaheer bowled well at the `death', yorking Mills and Tuffey. However, the Indian bowlers were let down by the fielders, conceding 67 in the final 10 overs. Have a look at McMillan's sensational one-handed diving catch at square-leg that signalled the end of the contest, and it is easy to see the difference between the sides. The Kiwis displayed commitment on the field, while the Indians fumbled and faltered. SCOREBOARD
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Ganguly), 2-57 (Laxman), 3-104 (Dravid), 4-104 (Yuveraj), 5-182 (Kaif), 6-187 (Bangar), 7-204 (Sehwag), 8-206 (Harbhajan), 9-217 (Srinath). New Zealand bowling: Tuffey 10-2-35-2 (nb-2); Mills 9.4-0-45-3 (w-2, nb-2); Oram 8-0-50-1; Vettori 8-0-48-1 (w-1); Hitchcock 8-0-38-1 (nb-3).
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