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Kiwis start with new zeal

What a recipe for a humdinger game of cricket! A blazing hot day, a perfect pitch with true and fast bounce, a seething capacity crowd, and two teams so evenly matched that even the international rankings separate them by only one point.

In needle affairs like this team selection is a crucial influence. New Zealand made some good moves and one that was less wise. The promotion to opener of Craig Spearman was an immediate success for he struck the ball so cleanly and so well that after a quiet start there were suddenly 60 runs from only nine overs. Spearman's contribution in only 44 deliveries set the stage for a day of glorious batting. He has had much less success, statistically, in one-day internationals than in Test matches and Indian followers could have been excused for believing him to be a studious, careful player who took few risks. He took few risks at Rajkot, but he treated the spectators to some crisp strokes, which especially featured his trademark lofted pull/drive through mid-wicket.

With Nathan Astle playing the anchor and Roger Twose celebrating his recall with some lusty blows, the Black Caps set up a score that was almost beyond belief. Only at Nagpur on the previous tour had we been able to score this freely and then it was Chris Cairns who led the way with a brilliant century. This time, Astle ran him out rather needlessly but not before he had lifted the scoring rate.

Help came in the form of Adam Parore and Chris Harris, so the possibility of a 350 target became a reality. New Zealand has never been beaten before when they have scored more than 298 so they looked to have established a winning position. The total rather confirmed the impression that perhaps New Zealand has the stronger allround side.

However, India's reply revealed the weakness in the Black Caps’ selection. Opening bowler Shayne O'Connor is useful in Test cricket because he can produce some wicked deliveries. In one-dayers, he has consistently gone for 5-6 runs per over but this time his first three overs yielded 42. He should not have been preferred over Chris Drum, a fast medium bowler in the Hadlee mould whose entire career has been built on accuracy. Drum has not played since the tour match at Bangalore where he took 5-24 off his 20 overs in the match.

The surprising elements of the early Indian innings were first the let off of Tendulkar behind the wicket before he had scored and then the dismissal of Ganguly when he hit a rank long hop straight to Harris at point. At this stage India were on target at 60 from eight overs but Ganguly's dismissal, immediately following that of Tendulkar, showed a lack of responsibility. Dravid also failed to kick on after reaching 39 in 42 balls and it was rather unfairly left to Jadeja to maintain a giddy scoring rate. He and Singh did well for a while but eventually the pressure told and in the end it was a comfortable win for the Black Caps and a sizzling start to the series.

The way the New Zealand bowlers stuck to their task after losing Dion Nash through injury was impressive. They took a caning for a long time but a very steady period by Cairns and Astle ultimately strangled the Indian batsmen, who became desperate in their reckless search for runs. India's lack of depth in all departments was quite cruelly exposed while New Zealand could take comfort in their balance and resilience, knowing they go on in the series with a lead and a psychological advantage.

(Gameplan)

Martin Crowe