Thursday, Jan 09, 2003
Thursday, Jan 09, 2003 |
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By S. Dinakar
Indian speedster Zaheer Khan, who won the Man of the Match Award for his match-winning, unbeaten 34 and three wickets that jolted the New Zealand top-order, exults after nailing Chris Harris in the fifth One-day International at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Wednesday. — Photo: N. Balaji
The fifth ODI between India and New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium, here on Wednesday, saw India salvaging some pride at last, reducing the margin to 1-4 in the seven-match ODI series, registering its first win on the tour after successfully chasing 168, but losing eight wickets in the process, that does little credit to the side. With the left-handed Yuvraj, playing nice and straight, timing his strokes well in front of the wicket, and having a lot of time to play them, and dishing out a calm and collected rather than belligerent batsmanship, making a priceless 54 and Man of the Match Zaheer Khan following his three early strikes with the ball, coming up with a battling unbeaten 34, there were smiles in the Indian camp at last. However, several unanswered questions remain in batting. There were some tense moments in the end, after the left-handed Yuvraj's pull off left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori was splendidly held by Chris Harris at mid-wicket — the eighth wicket pair had raised 44 in 63 balls — but Zaheer and Srinath, remained un-separated. The scores were level, when Zaheer, who had clouted paceman Daryl Tuffey for a six over long-on, steered Andre Adams to the point fence, and soon arrived the scampered single in the 44th over that halted India's miserable sequence of defeats on this tour. "If we had lost, I would not have been able to sleep tonight. I told Zaheer not to go for the big shots. The conditions for batting were very challenging", said Yuvraj. Earlier, Virender Sehwag had made a rollicking 40-ball 45, that shrunk the run-rate. Skipper Sourav Ganguly, who appeared to be sending the right message by fielding at short-leg and giving himself a longer bowl, shockingly chased and nicked a wide first delivery from Tuffey and was soon taking the long walk back. The fiery Shane Bond, back in the side, then got into the act, dismissing Dinesh Mongia with a swinging yorker, and then winning a leg-before decision over Sachin Tendulkar, figuring in the Indian ODI side after 11 games, with a delivery that nipped back a shade. The maestro was a touch unhappy with the decision though. Sehwag, who began with a cover-driven boundary off Bond, produced some cracking strokes, repeatedly finding the gaps in the arc between point and cover before Scott Styris snared him outside the off-stump with a delivery that seamed away. Rahul Dravid, in a manner that was totally out of character, slashed at Styris to be caught by McCullum and Mohammed Kaif was well pouched, low in the slip cordon by Fleming off Adams. When Kumble perished under comical circumstances, ducking at a short pitched delivery from Adams that hardly rose, India, at 116 for seven, was staring down the barrel. In Yuvraj and Zaheer, it found saviours. The Westpac pitch, which had the reputation of playing slower as the game progressed and with New Zealand having defended well here in the past, Fleming had little hesitation in opting to bat. He might have erred this time around. There was an element of pace and movement in the early phase of the contest and Srinath and Zaheer were right on the mark too. After a probing first over by Srinath, Zaheer jolted the Kiwis in the second, getting the ball to pitch in line from over the wicket, and trapping Nathan Astle, the danger man, on the shuffle. With his next delivery, Zaheer clipped Mathew Sinclair's off-stump, getting the ball to straighten from off-stump, when the batsman, shouldering arms, expected the delivery to seam across him. Veteran Chris Harris, in his comeback innings, saved the hat-trick, but Zaheer soon nailed him when the left-handed unwisely padded up to the left-armer, who was in the midst of an extremely productive spell. Hitting the deck hard like he so often does these days, Zaheer found the right line, and this, coupled with his ability to either get it to straighten into the right-hander or seam back at a lively pace, enabled him make the inroads. "It was a fabulous match for me. There was some pace and movement in the wicket", said Zaheer. "It was satisfying to be part of a great win" Harris' fall brought Chris Cairns to the middle, and this was a big occasion for this world class all-rounder. He may have almost played on, offering a tentative defensive stroke to Zaheer, but proceeded to play some lovely strokes, effortlessly square-driving Zaheer to the fence, sheer timing standing out, and unleashing a scorching off-drive of Aashish Nehra. Meanwhile, Fleming, pulling and flicking with panache, reached the landmark of 5000 ODI runs (186 games), and the fourth-wicket partnership did appear threatening from an Indian perspective, before a smart piece of captaincy from Ganguly ended the stand. The skipper switched the ends for Srinath and the senior paceman responded by castling Cairns with a sharp off-cutter, the ball finding a way between the bat and the pad. A special delivery for a special player, but then, this has been a series where Srinath has been bowling particularly well. That Cairns, following the lengthy lay-off, struck the ball so well, he hit six boundaries in his 25, would have been pleasing news for the Kiwis, but they did miss him as a bowler, the team-management not keen to put this precious cricketer at risk, before the World Cup. The score became 51 for five when Fleming was at the receiving end of a doubtful caught behind decision, appearing to drive over a Nehra delivery. There was less doubt about Styris' dismissal though, the all-rounder edging a big drive on to his stumps, Nehra again being the bowler. In the Kiwi lower-order, the spunky wicket-keeper batsman Brenden McCullum and the hard-hitting Andre Adams added useful runs, both making 35, but in contrasting styles. Adams gathered his runs off just 27 deliveries, pulling Nehra and Ganguly and smiting Kumble for sixes, before his miscued hit off the Indian captain was taken by Kaif at cover point. McCullum attempted to hold the innings together before Kumble, who pushed Harbhajan Singh to the 12th man's slot, got the Kiwi on the sweep. In the end, the Indians won under the lights before a sizeable crowd at the Westpac Stadium. It was a victory that halted a nightmarish losing streak.
SCOREBOARD
India bowling: Srinath 10-2-24-2 (w-3), Zaheer 8-0-30-3 (nb-1), Nehra 9-1-38-2, Ganguly 6-0-27-1 (nb-1), Kumble 9.4-0-38-2 (nb-4).
New Zealand bowling: Tuffey 10-2-40-1 (nb-2, w-4), Bond 10-0-34-2 (w-9), Adams 9.2-0-47-2 (w-3), Styris 9-1-29-2, Vettori 5-1-14-1.
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