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Kiwis pull it back to level series

There are some tosses it is good to lose. The one at the Nehru Stadium, in Guwahati, was one such.

The outfield, for starters, was bumpy, with clumps of grass alternating with clumps of soil. And the pitch was worse -- cracked, underdone, of uneven bounce, the kind of track you can't, with any certainity, fathom the behaviour of.

And that raises a question that has been asked in this forum before -- what, precisely, is the point of a pitches committee with high profile past players (first Kapil Dev, now Srikkanth) heading it? We are not talking here of spinning tracks or seaming tracks -- a pitch suitable for spin or seam is understandable, as, in the ODI context, is a flat batting track. But when you have tracks where no one, least of all the bowler, knows what the ball is going to do, it is time to ask questions.

The curator said, before the start of play, that he did not, given the monsoons, have sufficient time to prepare it. The monsoons certainly didn't come unannounced -- so the next question is, why then allot a match to a venue (in this context, remember too that in Guwahati this time of the year, it gets dark by 5 pm) knowing full well that the weather is unseasonal? India has over 30 international venues, so it is not as if the board didn't have any choices.

None of this is to cast doubt on the result -- the pitch after all is the same for both sides. The point here is, this track, and outfield, were a disgrace. The board needs to spend some time thinking about these factors -- on scheduling in venues keeping in mind seasonal conditions, on making the pitches committee do the work it is there to do, on not using international matches as an opportunity to dole out favours to various associations in return for votes (another instance being the practise of using different umpires -- all of them uniformly inexperienced and inept) for each game, given that some of the umpiring during this series has been pathetic).

Tendulkar won the toss. And opted to bowl. His rationale was, there is dew on the track (which there was, given the early, 8.45 am start and the lack of sun to dry the track out) and that it could help his new ball bowlers. Interestingly, Fleming said he would have batted had he won the toss.

Given the benefit of hindsight -- which neither captain has -- the design to insert might be questioned. The pitch, once play began, proved to be a bit uneven in bounce, the odd ball was stopping (check out the Roger Twose dismissal), and it was slowing down -- meaning that batting second was always going to be tough, meaning too that a score of 240-odd was eminently defendable on this track.

In passing, it gets rather amusing to see stats on the order of "5 of the last 8 games have been won by the team batting second" being bandied about as though they were carved on stone. Tendulkar, in fact, referred to that at the post match presentation when he said history was on the side of the side batting second. So? What use -- besides as a very broad, very unreliable indicator -- is it to know, when you don't, at the same time, get info on what kind of pitches were prepared for those eight games?

With Debashish Mohanty nursing a slight injury, T Kumaran got to make his debut. And in the fourth over of the match, the medium-quick bowler -- on the short side for an opening bowler, stocky in build, easy run up, whippy action and an ability to bowl a full length, all combining to produce lots of swing in the air and get the ball to skid off the deck) -- struck, with a quick ball swinging in late. Nathan Astle, the man in form, was looking to play across the line when the shot was beaten by the late swing to trap him plumb in front.

At the other end, Agarkar looked ordinary. No movement in the air or off the deck, the length too short too often for comfort -- a combination that had Spearman in particular going for his shots early on, a flick high and wide over midwicket for six in the fifth over being a standout.

Good captaincy -- there are times when you wonder what Tendulkar is thinking about, at other times you see him get things spot on, signs of a man growing into the job perhaps? -- produced the second wicket. Fleming has a tendency to punch off his hips on the up. Seeing a couple of deliveries stopping a shade, Tendulkar brought in a short midwicket and short cover for the Kiwi captain, who obligingly fell into the trap, punching on the up at a short ball from Agarkar and finding Ganguly at short midwicket.

Those two wickets falling inside the first 5 overs dampened the Kiwi batting a touch. And Robin Singh -- who, today, on an outfield fielders have nightmares about, turned in an electric display -- produced an outstanding bit of work to take out number three. Spearman, looking well set, attempted to play to leg, but again, late swing from Kumaran beat the shot, and the ball richocheted on the off side off the pads. Twose has this habit of coming a few paces down the track while making up his mind on a run, and Spearman misread his partner's intentions. Before he could be sent back, Robin had raced in, picked up the ball, kept running full tilt and on the lunge, and underarmed the ball onto the stumps to catch the batsman short.

Yet again, the Kiwi top order had collapsed, leaving the onus on the middle. And while on the subject, the way they've been changing their batting around defies logic. Twose batted superbly in the first game, so he promptly got pushed down the order, Parore being pushed up to his place. And today, it was Fleming, not having the best of tours, who strode out at number three.

Given the conditions, Tendulkar opted to use Ganguly and Robin Singh as first and second change, holding back his spinners for a bit longer. While Singh bowled a tight line and was economical, Ganguly went for a few, and Joshi took over. And showed, right from the first ball he bowled, how much of a confidence game cricket is. This was the guy who, when the Indians toured Nairobi under Jadeja, was being hailed for his great comeback. His stint with Bishen Bedi became talked about, his aggressive new outlook was applauded, and he went on to win the game first game against South Africa almost single-handed.

Then came one bad performance at home. Followed by media reports that his captain -- now Tendulkar -- had told the selectors he didn't really care to have Joshi in the side. And today, the Joshi of Nairobi is history -- here, he bowled flat and fast, never looking to turn the ball or to use his strengths of flight and loop. It was almost as if he was telling himself that if he could produce a few economical overs, he would at least escape further flak from his captain. The need though was for him to attack, to keep the pressure on, and this he failed to do.

Interestingly, Tendulkar apparently wants Nilesh Kulkarni in the squad in place of Joshi -- which is startling. Kulkarni is nowhere near international class as a left arm spinner, and that makes you wonder at Tendulkar's preference.

Roger Twose and Chris Cairns settled down to play intelligent cricket. Initially edgy, the two took ignored the lack of runs, settled down to get a feel of the pitch, and once they found their touch and timing, they settled down to push into the gaps, stroking the ball around, rotating the strike and gradually building a partnership.

Tendulkar finally opted for a double off spin attack after the halfway stage, bringing Bharadwaj on in the 26th and Chopra in the 27th. Chopra, unlike Joshi, enjoys his captain's confidence and has, this year, been improving with every outing. Here, he struck early, tossing one up nice and high, getting it to kick and turn away from the left-hander and Twose, shaping to drive and beaten in flight, checked his shot and managed only to put up a simple catch for mid off.

Much is made of Inzamam ul Haq's ineptness in running between the wickets. Adam Parore -- who doesn't even have Inzy's excuse of bulk -- is no slouch in that department, his career stats indicating that he gets run out once ever seven innings or so (not to mention the times he gets his partner short of his ground). Here, he fell to his familar weakness yet again, playing Chopra to leg and setting off rather casually for Robin to produce another bit of brilliance. The fielder raced in from midwicket, saw Parore slouching along, swivelled and scored with a direct hit at the bowler's end -- and Parore had given Inzy yet another run-out for his money.

Despite the setbacks, the Kiwis -- at 164/5 at the end of 40 overs -- were in a very good position thanks mainly to the presence of Chris Cairns. Today, the all-rounder played to potential and immediately gave indications of just why they keep talking of him in the same breath as the likes of Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis. When Cairns curbs his attacking instincts, he is a superb batsman, technically skilled, and able to play spin and seam alike with equal ease. And add to this the fact that he backs himself to go for the maximum at the least error in length and line.

Kumaran, who had a dream debut spell of 6-1-12-1, was brought back for the 42nd over, and Agarkar -- unimpressive with 6-1-35-1 -- for the 43rd. Agarkar's case, incidentally, underlines the point about a captain having confidence in his bowler -- Tendulkar obviously backs Agarkar to produce his yorkers at will at the death, and even when the young medium pacer bowls what Boycott would term "roobish", his captain is reluctant to take him off. Cairns, here, greeted him with a sweet, pickup shot over midwicket for six and when, an over later, Kumaran dropped a touch short and was effortlessly pull-driven over long on for another six, it looked like the Kiwis would take complete charge.

Vijay Bharadwaj -- who, for his all round work, was Man of the Series not so long ago, in Nairobi -- was brought back for the 46th over, and things began to happen. Chris Harris, who was partnering Cairns in an association that looked increasingly dangerous, drove to long off. Kumaran, from the line, raced in, attacked the ball, and with a quick release, produced a flat, hard throw that thudded into middle stump at the bowling end with Cairns well short going for the second run -- a superb effort from the deep. The glare Cairns gave Harris as he walked off told a story -- it was Cairns' call, but it was Harris who pushed for that second run.

It was the wrong time for Cairns to go, and the mishap appeared to have rattled Harris. He clubbed Bharadwaj to long off for four, then tried to club him over long on for six. Bharadwaj tends to bowl very flat, very fast, and it is difficult to get elevation on those hits. All that Harris managed was to put it in the air for Kumaran to run around and cap a good day in the field with a nice running catch.

Bharadwaj did it again in the 48th, spotting Scott Styris looking to make room to leg and promptly firing one in like a seamer (which is what he started out wanting to be), on a yorker length to beat the flailing bat and take out middle stump.

At the end of the 48th over, the Kiwis were 214/8 and struggling. An over later, they were 230/8 and looking much better. Agarkar in the penultimate over bowled a full toss which Tait gratefully swung around over midwicket for six, then produced a clubbed four through cover as the bowler produced a half volley, Daniel Vettori came up with an educated edge as he ran one down to third man for four, and 16 runs were added to the Kiwi total to give it a healthier look.

Chopra, who ended up bowling one over less than his quota -- making you wonder if Tendulkar had got his math wrong somewhere -- came up with a great final over. Ball three, tossed right up, had Vettori slogging to put up a nice skier for the bowler to hold. And a measure of Chopra's growing skills and confidence came when, with no discernible change of action, he produced what can only be described as a fast inswinging yorker to perplex Chris Drum, Chopra laughing in delight as he saw the batsman's expression.

237 to win wasn't going to be easy -- but then again, the chasing side had three batsmen who earlier in this series had gone past the 150 mark.

Ganguly got off the blocks fluently, his first three scoring strokes being a savage pull followed by a cover drive off Drum, then another square drive off Cairns. Tendulkar, who the other day -- unusually for him -- produced an Indian record for slow scoring when he made one off 23 deliveries, got off the mark more easily this time, but still looked well below prime form. With the ball staying low or occasionally kicking up, Tendulkar flashed and missed a few times, then drove at Chris Drum without really getting to the pitch and Fleming, at short cover, palmed the ball up as it went over his head, for Spearman at orthodox cover to hold running in. Nice bit of teamwork there, and more interestingly, Drum -- savaged by Tendulkar in the second one dayer -- has come back strongly, taking out the Indian captain cheaply twice on the trot.

At the other end, Chris Cairns was really bending his back, getting alarming lift and making the ball seam late away from the right handers. Dravid fell to a beauty, the ball kicking off a length and seaming away late -- the batsman spotted the seam movement late, tried to get his bat out of the way, and only managed to find Parore with the involuntary edge.

An over later, Drum -- who seems to have tidied up his act after that initial mauling in the second ODI -- got one to pitch leg, swinging a bit then straightening to hold line of middle -- Ganguly, without getting fully forward, attempted to flick to leg, missed and was trapped plumb. Tendulkar had looked uncomfortable, Dravid didn't last long enough for us to judge, but Ganguly in contrast was looking very good when he fell against the run of play -- and inside of 7 overs, the three leading run getters this series were back in the hut and the Kiwis were firmly in the box seat.

Vijay Bharadwaj and Ajay Jadeja survived a few early scares -- the latter being distinctly lucky to see Parore react late to an outer edge, while Bharadwaj was lucky to see his initial edges go wide of the keeper -- and settled down to what seemed a good partnership. The target was relatively small and one good partnership would have set a platform for the middle order, who thus far haven't needed to earn their keep in this series. Bharadwaj and Jadeja seemed to be building just that kind of partnership, when the former fell to what is rapidly becoming a problem area.

The youngster's problem is not technique, but over-confidence. Irrespective of the situation -- and this one, like the one in the first match, called for him to bat steadily -- he attempts to play the hero, and this is something the seniors in the side will need to talk to him about. Here, just when he looked to have settled down well, he charged down the track aiming a wild crossbat slog at Harris, played all over it and was bowled (if the ball had missed the stumps, he wold still have been stumped by half the length of the pitch). That was silly cricket, and Jadeja's expression of annoyance told the story. The two had put on 56 and were looking good when Bharadwaj's lack of thought and application pegged his side right back again.

But then, Jadeja fell immediately after. Vettori, surprisingly not given a single over in the previous game (Saurav Ganguly rates him the best left arm spinner he has ever played), and bowling on a good rhythm here, tossed one up around off. In normal circumstances, that is the kind of ball Jadeja would have driven into the covers. With India in a bit of a state, the batsman this time opted to just push defensively, and the turning ball took the edge for Parore to do the rest.

Robin Singh, as pointed out earlier, had a scintillating day in the field. It was perhaps poetic justice that fielding of an equally high standard took him out. Robin played wide of midwicket and took off for the run. Chris Harris raced around with surprising speed for such a laid back-seeming guy, picked up, swivelled and threw the stumps down at the bowler's end to catch the batsman a good two feet out of his ground.

That wicket -- the sixth -- fell in the 26th over, and India was just 88 on the board. The game had ended as a contest, and the only point of interest left was to see how the lower order would show up under pressure. MSK Prasad and Sunil Joshi did surprisingly well.

Joshi loves to attack, and started off by taking on the fielder at long on, lifting Harris and backing himself to clear the fielder on the line there. He then swung Vettori over midwicket -- again, successfully taking on the man posted on the line for just that shot. Meanwhile, Prasad stroked the ball around easily, against the bowling of Harris, Astle and Vettori, picking up the singles, and egging his partner on to further heroics.

There's been a lot of debate lately -- my mailbox, and Harsha Bhogle's, has been flooded with it -- about Prasad's rating vis a vis Mongia. If batting is the yardstick, there is nothing in it -- Prasad is easily the better batsman, more technically accomplished and, besides, capable all the time of looking for quick singles and judging them well. When it comes to keeping, though, the jury is still out -- Prasad, unlike Mongia, is capable on his day of diving miles to bring off some stunners, but when keeping to spinners, he has this tendency to get up too quickly and, in the process, tends to get beaten when the ball does something out of the ordinary, or the batsman nicks one late, and then looking surprised as the ball flashes past him.

An interesting aspect of the Prasad-Joshi association is told through stats: At the end of 26 overs, India were 88/6, the Kiwis in comparison being 110/3 and well ahead. At the end of 33 overs, India were 124/6 (the comparison, Kiwis 138/4, and the gap narrowing).

And again, at just the wrong time, an Indian batsman -- this time, Prasad -- choose to play hero. Joshi was hitting them with verve, the partnership had added 38 in 8 overs without either batsman seeming in any trouble, Cairns was off the field with an injury which meant the Kiwi bowling options were that much more limited, and all Prasad needed was to bat safe, look for singles and focus on keeping his end going. Instead, out of the blue, he aimed a huge hit at Vettori in the bowler's final over of a spell of controlled bowling, and managed only to get the toe of the bat on a ball looped outside off stump, to find Twose, fielding at long off, with ease. Vettori ended up with 10-1-37-2 -- a superb spell by any yardstick. There was flight, loop, turn, good use of the crease -- altogether a graceful, stylish, penetrative performance.

At the 35 over mark, India had got to 129/7. The Kiwis at that point were 144/5. The 15 run difference was no biggie -- but India by then had lost too many wickets (at least three of them -- Tendulkar, Bharadwaj and Prasad -- playing shots that were not really necessary), and thus left itself nothing in hand for the end overs.

A bowler needs help from his captain, in setting the kind of fields he needs. And if he doesn't have his captain's confidence, he can't do much. With the bat, though, it is a different story -- you are alone out there, you don't need anyone else. As Joshi showed, with an innings that put the efforts of his betters in the shade. He stroked freely, defended when required, and on a track where everyone else barring Cairns struggled to put runs on the board in good time, produced a fluent innings.

Chopra like Prasad focussed on getting the singles, letting Joshi do the free stroking, and at the end of 40 overs, India had got to 150/7 -- as against the Kiwi effort at that point of 164/5. The Kiwis, who fielded as well as the ground allowed them to, stayed with the slower bowlers, Astle and Harris in particular bowling their mix of seam up stuff and not letting the batsmen play the big hits they needed at that point. It was just what the conditions required and with India not having wickets in hand, the two in the middle couldn't take too many risks either.

Joshi brought up a battling run-a-ball 50 with a lovely swing over long on off Astle, taking the ball on a length and for the third time, clearing a fielder posted for just that shot. And promptly celebrated with a clubbed four that almost took the bowler's head off on its way to the fence. In the same over, though, Chopra, after a good performance with the bat, stroked one to deep mid off, took off the single and again, Harris reprised the effort by the Indians earlier, and threw the stumps down to catch Chopra out of his ground.

Agarkar whacked a four over mid off -- a lovely clean hit -- to start with, and fell next ball when he attempted to hit a ball on full length, from Styris, to leg. He missed, the pad was bang in line, and even umpire S K Bansal had no problems deciding that one.

In the number 11 stakes, Kumaran shapes as a good mile ahead of Venkatesh Prasad -- the lad is no mug with the bat. However, with no wickets left, the game was over, and the only interest was in the margin the Kiwis would win by. Kumaran tried to chip one over midwicket, got the toe of the bat on it, holed out to the fielder there and the Kiwis had pulled it off, by 48 runs, to set up an interesting final match at the Kotla in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Joshi remained unbeaten on 61 off 55 -- I wonder what his captain, coach and team-mates made of his innings? Not to mention the attitude he brought to the crease?

Fleming's team deserved the win all the way. Outplayed twice on the run, presumably tired after a long haul that began in England and continued through the heat of India, they still found enough reserves to fight right through this game, coming back strongly after losing three early wickets, then again holding their nerve even when the Jadeja-Bharadwaj partnership, then Joshi, looked like turning it around for the home team.

If they have this much spirit left, they should be able to go in at the Kotla primed for one flat out assault, to try and upset the Indian applecart and pull off a win I for one didn't think likely at the start of this series.

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