NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
DIARY
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
ARCHIVES

Kumaran impresses as India take series

Earlier in the series, we did make the point about tosses it was better to lose.

Here came another one of those. Nice bare wicket, seemingly a batting track, completely devoid of grass, greeted the players at the Firozeshah Kotla for what, thanks to the Kiwi fightback in the fourth ODI, had virtually turned into a final. Take that in conjunction with the small size of the ground, and 'win toss, bat first' seemed the prescription.

Except, there was dew on the track, and how that would impact on the bowling was anyone's guess. One thing for sure -- the dew would dry out under the sun, so conditions would be different for the team batting second.

Stephen Fleming won the toss, and smilingly took first strike. He wasn't to smile from that point on. Tendulkar ruefully said at the toss that he would have batted first, too. From the way he was smiling as he led his team off after 50 overs, it looked like the Indian skipper -- who at the toss might have had, in the back of his mind, the fact that India has lost 8 of the last 10 games it has batted second in -- was happy the decision had been made for him.

India rested Jadeja, nursing a sore shoulder, and gave Devang Gandhi an opportunity to make his ODI debut. And -- in a move that could be significant vide the Australia tour -- gave T Kumaran the preference over Ajit Agarkar, when it came to deciding who would share the new ball with Javagal Srinath, brought back to spearhead-status by a team facing the prospect of losing a series it was looking to win in a sweep.

From the first ball Srinath bowled, indications were that New Zealand would regret batting first -- there was swing through the air, seam off the wicket and, when the bowler bent his back a bit, good bounce as well. Kumaran, at the other end, bowled with a panache belying the fact that it was just his second game, complementing Srinath admirably, bowling a full length, letting the conditions aid his natural ability to swing and seam the ball around. Both bowlers bowled to a plan, not trying too hard, bowling well within themselves and to an aggressive field that lent an added edge to their length and line. A measure of their discipline was seen in the fact that there were no extras in the first ten.

Nathan Astle didn't look at ease during his short tenure at the crease -- but for all that, he was distinctly unlucky to get the LBW going against him, when Srinath bowling from wide of the crease took the pad in front of middle and leg. The keeper was angling to leg, a clear indication of where the ball was going, but umpire S K Sharma yet again gave cause for us to underline the point about the use of different umpires for each game, when he raised his finger in a hurry to have the Kiwis at 11/1 in the 5th over.

Ironically, the first no-ball of the innings got a wicket, when Kumaran after a few incutters produced a lovely late leg cutter to get Spearman driving, the edge well taken by Dravid at second slip. The umpire -- earlier in the series, another umpire had made a similar faux pas with Tendulkar, that time, as the victim -- failed to spot the foot crossing the line.

Srinath turned in a superb spell of 6-1-13-1, but his real value lay in the way the inexperienced Kumaran grew in his company. There is much to be said for pairing an experienced bowler with a rookie, allowing the latter to learn and grow in the former's shadow, and today provided a perfect example of the value of that kind of pairing. Kumaran turned in a dream spell of 6-3-8-1 before Chopra, and Ganguly, took over the attack.

Good field setting, tight bowling and fielding kept down the scoring, with the Indians turning in a committed performance in the field. Chopra was particularly effective at this point, given the presence of two left-handers at the crease. It did make you wonder, though, if the Kiwis had missed a strategic bet -- given that India had two offies, in Chopra and Bharadwaj, it would have seemed a better ploy to ensure that right-handers like Parore and Cairns were present at one end. At the other end, Ganguly's nagging wicket to wicket bowling bottled the batsmen up (5-1-14-1 in his first spell) and, finally, forced the error. Fleming, attempting to break the shackles, sought to flick Ganguly across the line, to one swinging in from line of leg and straightening on middle, to be trapped plumb in front -- no problems for the umpires on that one. It was a laboured effort from the Kiwi skipper who, yet again, looked a shadow of the player he can be when on song.

Srinath was brought back for a brief spell in the 23rd, the Indians obviously looking to try and attack the Twose-Cairns pairing before the two -- who had in the previous game batted the tourists out of a similar hole -- could settle down. For his part, Cairns yet again produced an innings that married calm good sense with spot on aggressive instincts. Picking his bowler, Cairns first went after Ganguly, smashing a six over midwicket, then a four down the ground, then another four over midwicket off the 24th over -- Ganguly's 6th -- and spoiling his fine figures somewhat.

Joshi came on in the 27th and Robin Singh joined him, maintaining the spin-pace combination. And while Robin shut one end down (just 11 in his first 5) with some tight, intelligent bowling, it was Joshi's turn to feel the heat from Cairns, the all-rounder picking him out for some stick every time the bowler tried flighting a touch too much. On the plus side -- and a marked departure from the norm -- the Indians maintained the pressure, keeping the fielders inside the circle even past the 30 over mark to choke the singles down and force the risks.

The pressure finally brought the result, when Cairns, who found he couldn't rotate strike as easily as he had in the previous game, tried a heave at Robin across the line to be trapped plumb. It was a steady partnership with Twose -- but the Kiwi all-rounder was guilty of throwing it away with a rather extravagant shot at just the wrong moment. Given the small ground, Cairns at the death could have been lethal, but with him gone, the tourists were going to struggle.

Parore looked completely out of sorts, and in fact very nearly missed being run out yet again as Robin -- turning in yet another all-round display of electric fielding -- from point threw the stumps down at the bowler's end. Parore has this tendency to decide that he is safe simply because he is not running to the conventional 'danger end', and judging by the way Robin unhesitatingly threw to where Parore was running, his rather casual air between wickets is becoming noticed by opposing teams.

Roger Twose had held one end up but with the innings winding down, he needed runs in a hurry. And there weren't any gimme balls on offer, forcing the batsman to go down on one knee and try a huge heave at Joshi, ending up putting the ball high in the air for a simple take at backward square.

Srinath and Kumaran took over for the last four overs -- with the younger of the pair actually getting the honour of bowling the final over. Both bowlers were bang on target, both got the ball to reverse swing, and in the 48th, one such ball bowled at his best pace beat Parore for both movement and pace as the batsman tried to swing to leg, and sent the middle stump cartwheeling.

In the 49th, Styris pushed one to mid off, Tendulkar raced in and, while the batsman took off for a non-existent run before hesitating and trying to scramble back, took his time, aimed and threw. Bingo -- no need for the third umpire.

A tight final over from Kumaran saw Tait playing for inswing, the bowler however made it go away and the batsman got the toe of the bat on an attempted big hit, for Robin to hold with ease at point. And off the final ball, Vettori, going for a third run that didn't exist, was caught off his ground by a good pick up and throw from Bharadwaj in the deep, to round off a fine bowling and fielding performance.

There were two interesting off the ball incidents worth noting. One came in the middle of the Kiwi innings, when Saurav Ganguly suddenly called halt to the proceedings and strolled up to Tendulkar for a chat. Later in the innings, Tendulkar was seen calling Ganguly over for a consultation -- signs that captain and vice captain are settling down nicely to a partnership, which is a good sign for the team.

The other relates to Kumaran. Not only did he turn in a fluid bowling performance today, what was noticeable was that he looks absolutely at ease within the team. There was plenty of interaction with Srinath, the senior bowler talking constantly to his newest partner. And more to the point, the way he smiled, gesticulated and shared a laugh with Tendulkar as he bowled his final over seemed to indicate that he is a welcome addition to the squad, and enjoys the confidence of his skipper and fellows.

179 was never going to be a target on this ground. And Ganguly ensured that there were no alarms, with an innings of cold calculation.

Chris Drum, who after a pasting by Tendulkar earlier in the series had come back strongly in the next two games, got a reality check care of Ganguly. In the 4th over of the innings, the left-hander went after drum with a smashed four square on the off, then a very delicate leg glance, then a skip back to shorten the length and square drive again, then a neat flick square on the on off the pads, for four boundaries on the trot. Incidentally, that sequence also reveals the problem -- Drum was bowling both sides of the wicket in turn, and increasing his chances of being taken big time.

Once Styris took over from Drum, the Kiwis pulled things back a bit, keeping things tight in the first ten overs. But Ganguly, in particular, batted in a fashion that made it all a foregone conclusion -- perfect defence, effortless strokeplay at any lapse on the bowler's part -- the opener, on a roll, had powered to 50 before his partner was really off the blocks.

Gandhi meanwhile batted the way we increasingly expect him to -- hesitant in the early stages, seemingly uncomfortable against good seam bowling, and growing a touch in confidence as the ball gets older and slower. Ganguly talked his statemate through the nervous initial phase when he took 17 balls to get off the mark, and the debutant was just looking to settle down when Drum, coming back, got one to swing in and jag back further off the seam to take the pad. Not the kind of decision you applaud -- the ball looked to be angling to leg, and was bowled from wide of the crease -- but then again, given the standard of umpiring in the series thus far, par for the course.

Rahul Dravid came in and looked like he wanted to finish things off in a hurry -- it isn't often that the first two scoring strokes in a Dravid innings are lofted hits over long on and down the straightfield, the first a four, the second a towering six. Then Ganguly was seen gesticulating to him, obviously asking him to cut out the big hitting for a bit -- and that made Dravid aware that his partner was close to a hundred.

Dravid promptly -- and unadvisedly -- stopped himself in full flow. And as it turned out, his change of tack was in vain. Against Vettori, Ganguly attempted to get to his landmark in a heck of a hurry, rushed down the pitch (in a berserker fashion in contrast to the graceful glide we associate with him at such times), was beaten and stumped off a relatively innocuous delivery. It is not often that Ganguly is stumped when he comes down to the spinners -- the way he rushed down here indicated that he had allowed the imminence of the landmark to put some pressure on his nerves. It had been a lovely, match-winning knock till that point, however, and at his departure, India were coasting.

Tendulkar lasted three balls, during which he gave an example of studied defence. Not sure why, since the deliveries he faced didn't really warrant the copybook forward defensive pushes. To the fourth ball of his innings, he tried to play to leg, got the leading edge and, after initial hesitation, walked as Vettori claimed the catch. Was it fairly taken? On the replays, it is difficult to tell -- there was a puff of dust as the bowler took the ball, whether the dust was kicked up by the ball bouncing, or by the bowler's fingers as they scrabbled to get under the leather, is anyone's guess.

Rahul Dravid (25 off 19 deliveries at one point) paid a price for letting his rhythm go in the interests of letting Ganguly get a hundred -- suddenly, the free-stroking mood was gone, and he found himself battling to recapture that carefree air he had brought to the crease. It is never a good idea to change your mode of batting in mid-stride -- often we see batsmen committed to defensive, anchor-type roles suddenly trying to open up, and getting out; here, Dravid showed that the reverse works as well, as he seemed completely out of sync, pushing and poking around after the fall of those two wickets.

At the other end, Bharadwaj played with a studious application that seemed to indicate that his rather breezy, dont-care-if-I-am-out batting of previous outings had earned him a talking to by his team-mates. With the result that the final phase of the game proved a bit of an anti-climax as India, which had coasted till that point, began inching to the target in the lowest of low gears, in the process earning a bit of a hooting from the capacity crowd.

Barring this phase, however, it was a fluent all round performance -- in fact, the Indian body language especially in the first half of the game had about it a touch of arrogance, almost as if they were saying the fun and games is over, this one we are going to win. As it turned out, they produced the performance to back that arrogance, and ended with a fluent win to take the series 3-2, with a seven wicket win in the final game.

Party time, perhaps -- but the morning will bring with it the sobering thought that before too long, they are headed for their toughest examination in a long while, when they take on Australia on the pitches Down Under.

PS: The popular choice -- Dravid -- was also the choice of the former Indian internationals, leading to the number three batsman being accorded the Castrol Cricketer of the Year trophy at Delhi last evening.

We will hold the draw of lots tomorrow and announce the winners of the poll in tomorrow's edition. Do watch out for that.

Scoreboard