New Zealand has bowlers to take 20 Indian wickets: Brendon McCullum

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum today said he has bowlers at his disposal to take 20 Indian wickets after the Kiwis rode on the skipper's unbeaten double century to take an upperhand in the ongoing first cricket Test, here today.

McCullum's sparkling 224 guided New Zealand to a commanding 503 in their first innings before the hosts reduced India to 130 for four at the send of second day's play. But McCullum said he had never imagined that the Kiwis would reach the 500-run mark after they were reduced to 30 for three in the morning session of first day's proceedings yesterday. "I thought we will get 200-odd runs, because when you are 30/3 down, you are thinking about small targets and getting a competitive score. Never did I think that after 30/3 in those conditions, we would end up getting 500 runs and for this batting line-up, I think that is a fine achievement," he said. "We have bowlers to take 20 wickets if we give them enough runs and I think we have given them enough runs," said McCullum, after the second day's play was called off early due to bad light.

McCullum opined with India opener Murali Vijay and said the new ball was creating problems for the batsmen initially. "The new ball is stopping a bit, when it is hard. We saw that with Ishant (Sharma) when the ball was changed in the morning and the pitch started to stop a little bit. Short catches in front of the wicket will become crucial as the game goes on," said the Kiwi skipper agreeing with Vijay's assertion that new ball hurting the batsmen of both teams. "So, to get two wickets in the first over was outstanding, especially (Cheteshwar) Pujara's wicket because he can bat for weeks. It's nice to get him pretty early. They had a nice partnership going in the end, but it means that we still have a hard ball tomorrow morning. There is a slightly earlier start and I am hoping for an overcast morning with some swing," he added. 

Copyright : dnaindia.com

Skipper Dhoni confident of a turnaround

The sky was essentially grey here on Wednesday. Cloud-cover and spells of rain have been forecast for the next five days.

These are conditions that should suit the pacemen in the first Test, beginning on Thursday. Bowling first on a fresh wicket would be an advantage.

The Indian team’s practice session was marked by the release of some pre-Test nervous energy.

Opener Murali Vijay walked up to the surface for the Test and shadow practised from an imaginary stance. Soon, the session got busier. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in the thick of things.

Dhoni comprehends the nature of the challenge.

He, however, smartly opted to play down the significance of grass-laden track. “More than the grass, it is important to see whether it is live grass or not. And it is also important whether the base of the wicket has moisture or not. If the base is dry, it will be a good batting pitch.”

The Indian captain expected the New Zealand pacemen to target his batsmen with short-pitched bowling.

Yet, he sounded confident. “In Tests, you have the time to pick and choose. You could play a stroke off a lifting delivery or simply leave it. “In the ODIs, this is not always possible since you have to cope with the asking rate. Your response depends on how much the other team has scored.”

Dhoni was optimistic about India’s prospects in the two-Test series.

“We played well in South Africa. We just had two bad hours and it cost us the series. We have been playing good cricket for most part.”

The Indian captain felt playing five bowlers was not a bad idea but indicated the team was not yet ready for such a strategy. “We need to have more confidence in our batting. It is still a young line-up.”

On left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s role in an attack dominated by pacemen, Dhoni said, “he keeps it tight, denies runs from one end.

“What Jadeja does is that he keeps one end going while I can rotate the pacemen from the other. But he needs to improve as a batsman. He has a lot of ability.”

Ishant Sharma, Dhoni said, had a key role as a first change bowler. “The kookaburra ball does not swing much after the first 25-30 overs. “So Ishant has to keep hitting that length, extracting bounce and some seam movement and keeping things tight. We cannot afford to give away too many runs.”

Zaheer’s influence

Dhoni said senior paceman Zaheer Khan’s influence was huge in the side. “It’s not just about mentoring. It’s about helping the younger pacemen with strategies during play. Walking up to them and giving them inputs after every over and spell.”

Of course, Dhoni had high expectations from Cheteshwar Pujara in this series. “He has the ideal temperament, has so much patience. He waits and waits for the bowlers to pitch in his areas of strength. It’s not easy to bat like him. Pujara reads the game so well.”

The team just had ‘enough’ time to prepare for the Test, Dhoni said. “A lot of players in the Test team have already played in the ODIs. So they know a fair bit about the conditions.”

Like his counterpart Brendon McCullam, Dhoni’s swashbuckling batting could impact the series.

Both captains will also keep a keen eye on the weather.

Copyright : thehindu.com

New Zealand seal series 4-0 after 87-run win over India in fifth ODI

Press Trust of India | Wellington

New Zealand cricket players celebrate their series' victory over India during the fifth one day International cricket match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand (AP)

SUMMARY

New Zealand hammered India by 87 runs in the inconsequential fifth and final one-dayer.

A listless Indian cricket team slumped to its worst ODI series defeat in New Zealand, going down 0-4, after the Black Caps hammered them by 87 runs in the inconsequential fifth and final one-dayer.

Going into the match trailing 0-3 in the five-match series, the famed India batting came a cropper once again, bundled out for 216 in 49.4 overs by New Zealand, while chasing 304 at Westpac stadium.

Virat Kohli’s 82 was the only saving grace as the visitors failed to put up a fight against the New Zealand bowlers, led superbly by debutant Matt Henry (4/38).

Earlier, Ross Taylor slammed his second successive hundred to power the hosts to an imposing 303 for five.

Besides the tie in the third ODI in Auckland, India had suffered defeats in Napier and Hamilton (twice) and today’s defeat continued their disastrous overseas performance as they had lost the ODI series against South Africa before coming here.

India had lost 2-5 to New Zealand in a seven-match ODI series in 2002-03. The last time the Indians failed to win even a single match in New Zealand was in 1975-76 and 1980-81, losing 0-2 in both the two-match series.

Put into bat, Taylor (102) shared a 152-run partnership with Kane Williamson (88), who scored his fifth consecutive half-century, for the third wicket to rescue New Zealand from a precarious 41-2 at one stage.

Taylor’s 106-ball innings was studded with 10 hits to the fence and one six, while Williamson blasted eight fours and one six in his 91-ball innings here.

For India, Varun Aaron (2-60) was the most successful bowler, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-48) and Mohammed Shami (1-61) provided decent support. Virat Kohli took the only other wicket to fall, while the spinners, R Ashwin (0-37) and Ravindra Jadeja (0-54) went wicket-less.

Chasing 304 runs for their first win on the tour, the Men in Blue got off to a disastrously slow start as they needed six overs to get to a double-digit score, losing a wicket in the interim.

Rohit Sharma (4) was the first to go, giving slip-catching practice to Taylor in the 5th over bowled by Kyle Mills (2-35).

Shikhar Dhawan (9), coming back into the eleven after spending the last match on sidelines, also looked uncomfortable as Henry finally get rid off him, taking this first international wicket.

The young pacer wounded up the left-handed batsman in the 10th over of the innings, before inducing an edge which was safely pouched in the slips.

Four over later, with the score at 30/2, Ajinkya Rahane (2) missed a straight delivery from Henry, trying to play it off his legs and was out plumb LBW.

India were staring at another massive defeat even as Kohli put up some resistance and finally he found some support in Ambati Rayudu. The latter took his time getting set, hitting two fours off the 40 balls he faced, but he couldn’t get past 20 runs.

Looking to hit Henry over square on the off-side, Rayudu stepped out and made room only to hit it straight to Williamson.

This was a serious blow for India, as the two batsmen had added 48 runs 64 balls, at a decent run-rate of 4.5 per over.

Yet again, India were left relying on Dhoni and Kohli and the duo tried hard, putting up 67

Copyright : indianexpress.com