India will no doubt take heart from the fact that Zimbabwe got close to the New Zealand total, though the hosts were not really threatening to win the game. In a Tri-Series like this one, each team looks for these little advantages and India will think a lot more positively than they did in their first game against New Zealand. Not that they were outplayed in that game, but there were areas that they need to work on, and one of them is their batting, especially the opening pair. As of press time, both Ganguly and Sehwag are a bit under the weather and are uncertain to play the game against New Zealand and that will be a big blow, as India are without Tendulkar and so are short of class and experience as well.
The manner, in which the two spinners bowled for Zimbabwe in their game against the Kiwis will also make the Indian think-tank consider the possibility of playing with two specialist spinners and so Murali Kartik can come into the equation to give support to Harbhajan. Gavin Ewing and Prosper Utseya bowled quite splendidly and kept the Kiwi batsmen guessing, and it was their bowling that ensured that New Zealand did not get away in the middle overs.
Earlier of course, Streak had shown Lou Vincent what a cruel game this can be, by dismissing him with a beauty of an out-swinger. So Vincent, after that magnificent 172 in their previous encounter was gone for a zero this time around.
Zimbabwe do not have good support to Streak and though Ireland got Fleming also out early, the bowlers were unable to exploit the early juice in the pitch. New Zealand captain, Fleming had said at the toss that they were batting first because their batting against India wasn’t impressive and they needed the top order to fire against the weaker attack of Zimbabwe. Fleming himself should be worried about his own form, for he is getting out to loose shots and that is not a good example to the rest of the team.
Ganguly too, will have to set a good example, for he is by far the most experienced of the batsmen and if he gets the team off to a good start, that will mean half the battle won. India have not got off to any sort of start, and that’s put pressure on the lower batsmen, who haven’t quite fathomed which way to play.
They have been in two minds, whether to attack or to play a waiting game, keep wickets in hand and then go for the big shots in the final overs. This was evident by the way Kaif batted after being promoted to the one-down position. Frankly, that is a slot reserved for Rahul Dravid, who is way ahead in skill and experience, and in the key game against the Kiwis, he too has to fire.
India will know the importance of this game, as only recently they lost both the round-robin games to Sri Lanka and then went on to lose the finals as well and so from the confidence point of view, they must beat the Kiwis in this game.
The Kiwis will be pleased with the batting of Nathan Astle, who is a dangerous customer and has been such an integral part of their team and the progress made by Vettori as a batsman now makes him qualify as a genuine all-rounder. India will be hoping that Irfan Pathan will emulate Vettori and also get runs regularly, so that he too can come into the category of all-rounders.
He batted with great common sense, as did J.P Yadav and it’s that example that the top order needs to look at. On an overseas tour, it does take time to get used the conditions, but India are a well-travelled team, and so they now have to show that they have gotten over everything; pitches, conditions, sickness, as they play for their morale in the game against the New Zealanders.
