The Hindu : Sport : India registers first win on the tour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 04, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

India registers first win on the tour

S. Ram Mahesh

Sehwag, Raina, Dhoni shine on a rain-hit day

Napier: India did it in partnerships on a cold, wet Tuesday here at McLean Park, registering its first victory of the tour and taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.

In a game shortened by rain, the visiting side made 273 for four in 38 overs, thanks to propelling gusts from Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, who helped themselves to stirring half-centuries, and a ground-out, unbeaten 89-ball 84 (6x4) from captain M.S. Dhoni.

The partnerships raised — 69 for the first wicket, 52 for the second, 110 for the fourth, and a quick, unbroken 32 for the fifth — were a refreshing departure from the Twenty20 Internationals.

Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar then formed an impressive partnership of their own with the new ball, exploiting the movement on offer under lights to stunt New Zealand’s reply.

Crippling blow

Brendon McCullum, who wasn’t dismissed in the Twenty20 games, couldn’t break his duck here, top-edging a pull off Praveen to be caught at long-leg. It was a crippling blow.

Although Martin Guptill resisted with a wristy, attractive 64, briefly raising New Zealand’s hopes when batting with Ross Taylor, it was a bridge too far for the home side.

Grant Elliott was run out just as rain held up play for the second time. Chasing 278 (reset by the Duckworth-Lewis method) in 38 overs, New Zealand went in at 111 for four in 20.5 overs. When play resumed, the revised target was 216 in 28 overs.

Immediately, Jacob Oram top-edged a sweep to be caught behind. Soon New Zealand lost four wickets in the space of five balls without furthering its score. The game though had ceased being a contest before that. Earlier Priety Zinta — in a fetching red sweater and swish boots, and here as a guest of the New Zealand government — brought Dhoni some much-needed luck at the toss.

Sehwag mayhem

Sehwag then uncorked 20 minutes of mayhem before the rain came. On resumption two hours and twenty minutes later, Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, who had played out an Iain O’Brien maiden, looked for the sharp single.

It was during one such endeavour that Sehwag and O’Brien tangled mid-pitch. Sehwag was taken off his feet, but that didn’t stop O’Brien throwing at the stumps. Sehwag wasn’t amused, and promptly smacked O’Brien over mid-on for four.

Kyle Mills suffered the backlash as well. The seamer, making a return from injury, struggled to land it in the areas recommended (that is, if he did land it at all), and was taken for 17 in the ninth over, six of them from a withering Sehwag cut.

After Ian Butler snared Tendulkar — who nicked an attempted guide when the ball bounced on him — Dhoni walked in at three. But he found that his touch hadn’t improved from the second Twenty20 game in Wellington.

Sehwag meanwhile was deprived of what seemed an inevitable hundred by a stunning catch by Ross Taylor in the covers.

More fielding brilliance — this time from Guptill, who cut the angle running in from the deep mid-wicket boundary before throwing on the bounce to the bowler — accounted for Yuvraj Singh.

Raina, who looked in crisp touch from the first ball he faced, trusted his instincts and attacked the bowlers. It was Raina’s ability to sustain a scorching pace that allowed Dhoni to take his time.

The left-handed Raina was devastating in the arc between deep mid-wicket and wide long-on, and for some reason, New Zealand’s bowlers fed him there. He transferred weight remarkably well, stepping into the stroke and twisting his upper body to hurry his bat through the ball.

But Raina’s most spectacular stroke on Tuesday was a glide to the third-man fence that saw him splitting like a gymnast.

It wasn’t until after the 30th over that Dhoni first played his patented flagellating stroke, where the wrists describe a full circle. Although he quickened his pace after passing 50 in 66 balls, the Indian captain never did catch up with the rate of a run a ball.

He’s far too sharp a cricketer to throw it away, however. India needed hard-crafted runs amidst the flash and dash, and Dhoni provided just that on Tuesday.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport