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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
New Zealands opener Mark Richardson flicks R.P. Singh during his unbeaten century knock on the first day of the three-day match against India `A' at Rajkot on Thursday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre
Rajkot. Oct. 2. For all the build-up surrounding their preparation for this tour of India, the New Zealanders' first meaningful day under the sun may not have gone according to plan, though they finished at 299 for five in 90 overs. However, Mark Richardson scored a polished century on the first day of the three-day match at the Race Course Ground here on Thursday. The Black Caps would regard it as a definite plus that had emerged on a day when the India `A' team took extra time to complete the mandatory 90 overs, taking the second new ball at the first opportunity. Some fantastic work by the groundstaff made it possible for the match to begin on time. The last thing the Black Caps, and some of the aspirants in the India `A' team, wanted would have been loss of playing time because of a wet outfield caused by heavy rains on Wednesday evening. Having spent the time available for play at Visakhapatnam bowling nearly 85 overs, the New Zealand batsmen were looking forward to spending time in the middle. Fortunately Stephen Fleming won the toss. If the Kiwi batsmen were keen on putting some runs on the board, interest in the rival camp revolved around how the seamers, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sree Santh. According to coach Sandeep Patil, the Chairman of selectors, Syed Kirmani, and Kiran More felt that having picked the three in the squad, they deserved the first exposure at international level. The third seamer came at the expense of off-spinner Sarandeep Singh. And, in the continuing search for openers, the selectors picked Akash Chopra, Sadagopan Ramesh and Connor Williams. Packing the bowling with three seamers meant that they were also going to carry a heavy workload as a result of the decision to keep Sarandeep out. All attention was riveted on the Bharuch-born Patel. He did surprise Richardson with the first delivery of the match, but in the five spells or so he bowled, never did he give any indication of bowling consistently at speeds of 135 plus. Skipper Mohammad Kaif had to rotate the seamers around keeping in mind the heat and humidity. Sree Santh, bowling close to the stumps, looked impressive in his first and second spells and was rewarded with the wicket of Craig McMillan in the post tea session. Patel, Singh and Sree Santh bowled 51 overs among them, and it must be said they looked quality bowlers at times, but not consistently. Patel struck a purple patch in 15 balls dismissing Scot Styris, Fleming and Nathan Astle, who was trapped in front first ball for a duck. In fact, Patel was on a hat-trick in his first first-class match. After the opening partnership was broken by Murali Kartik knocking down the leg stump of Lou Vincent, the second session produced plenty of runs, with Richardson determined to make good his first outing on this tour. Richardson is not like the attacking left-handers. He has moulded his game around sound defence. He punished the loose balls and was involved in two useful partnerships with McMillan (89 for the fifth) and an unbroken 119 for the sixth with Jacob Oram, who clouted mighty sixes in the last hour to hasten New Zealand's score towards the 300-run mark. From the Indians' point of view, the three seamers looked inexperienced and Kartik never really troubled the batsmen. The left-arm spinner had problems overstepping. He and R.P. Singh bowled nine no balls each. In the first session, R.P. Singh tripped and fell as he approached the bowling crease and had to go off for treatment. Later in the day Sree Santh also seemed to have suffered a pulled muscle. The scores: New Zealand — 1st innings: M. Richardson batting 128, L. Vincent b Kartik 11, S. Fleming b Patel 27, S. Styris 8, N. Astle lbw b Patel 0, C. McMillan c Chopra b Sree Santh 30, J. Oram batting 59. Extras (b-4, lb-12, nb-20) 36. Total (for five wkts) 299. Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-79, 3-91, 4-91, 5-180. India `A' bowling: M. Patel 19.4-4-64-3, R.P. Singh 19.2-4-68-0, Sree Santh 12.5-5-22-1, Kartik 29-3-98-1, Ramesh 5.1-2-18-0, Gavaskar 4-0-13-0.
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