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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
Australia's Michael Clarke (left) given a helping hand by Brad Hogg in his stretching exercise during a practice session on the eve of their encounter with New Zealand at Nehru Stadium, Pune.
Beaten hollow by its Tasman foe at Faridabad, plans of leisure and recovery was immediately shattered. Anyway Pune is not a sort of a resort for tourists to take a break from the hectic pace of a one-day international series. In the outskirts of Pune are the famous twin hill stations of Lonavla and Khandala, but a far cry from the likes of the hot summer springs of Rotarua at home. Stephen Fleming's team might have been just tempted to take a road journey to see the Karnala falls near the hill stations, but advance preparation for the second round brush with Australia gained priority following the rout last week. Returning to the blackboard and sharpening skills were two practical ways to remedy shortcomings and find solutions. On reaching Pune, Fleming's team faced impediments of sorts. Sharp showers in the weekend prevented them from visiting the Nehru Stadium at Swargate for two days. Instead, they found the facilities at the Cadence Cricket Academy promoted by Ajay Shirke well-equipped and a fine place to train and practise. Fleming and some of his teammates are familiar with the people involved with the Cadence CA. Their former coach David Trirst has already spent good time here in the last two years. Fortunately, a clear sky and bright sunshine afforded a chance for the Kiwis to have their first full `in the net' session at the Nehru Stadium. Fleming had turned out to be a smart captain, but has been out of touch. There was any number of net bowlers he faced. He is not distraught at the turn of events that took place on a pitch left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams exploited to the hilt at the Nahar Singh Stadium. He felt there was `nothing to analyse' of the game at Faridabad, but said there's a chance to redeem on Monday. The trans-Tasman rivalry can be likened to an India-Pakistan contest. Steve Waugh's team was humbled by the Black Caps two seasons ago. In the present series the New Zealanders have played two matches and have lost only one, sharing points with India at Chennai. So Fleming's team, though placed at the bottom of the table with three points, cannot be written off. Of his own form Fleming said he's not arrived and that he likes to take on pressure.
Weather causes concern
By 4 p.m. on Sunday, the clouds began to gather and grim thoughts came back to haunt the members of the organising committee. The weather office had predicted rain for 48 hours (on Sunday and Monday), but there was not a drop of rain. There's prayer in the lips of the ad hoc committee that's been put in charge of running the show. They committee is not bothered about a court verdict on Wednesday that will determine where former Chairman Dyneshwar Agashe stand vis-à-vis Maharashtra cricket. The BCCI has appointed a special committee in its Hon. Secretary S.K. Nair, Purshottam Rungta, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty to assist the ad hoc committee. Some of the Australians who arrived here on Sunday morning, including Ricky Ponting, came to the ground at 5 p.m. for a warm-up, kicking puck, having a hit and getting a feel of the ground. Representing Australia, coach John Buchanan said Cairns is not only known for his skills, but also for his competitiveness. "We would like to see him on the park. The idea should be to have the best team on the field. We are focussing on ourselves and getting through with the first four matches of the competition without much damage.'' The best news from Australia's point of view has been the professional bowling of Bracken and Williams, which Buchanan acknowledged. Bracken has already taken ten wickets in three matches and seems to have improved by leaps and bounds in the last two matches. About the composition of the team Buchanan said: "We are not following a rotation policy. The idea is to give opportunities to all the 14 players at some stage of the series.'' Fleming described the pitch prepared by Chandu Borde flat with a good covering of grass. "It should be good. But we will see how much moisture it holds on Monday morning before picking the XI,'' said the Black Caps captain adding that Paul Hitchcock will not be playing. It seems the immediate threat of rain playing spoilsport has diminished. The Black Caps have a score to settle and they have gird up their loins for it. The teams (from): Australia: Ricky Ponting (Captain), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Bevan, Michael Clarke, Brad Hogg, Andy Bichel, Nathan Bracken, Jimmy Maher, Ian Harvey, Brad Williams. New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (Captain), Lou Vincent, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Jacob Oram, Brendan McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler, Chris Nevin, Kyle Mills, Chris Cairns. Umpires: Messrs David Shepherd and K. Hairharan; Third umpire: A.V. Jayaprakash, Fourth umpire: T.R. Kashyappan; Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle. Hours of play: 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 1.15 onwards.
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