India v. New Zealand - 1st. Test

[Donny]

Ready to battle in the heat

Samanth Subramanian

October 7, 2003

Ahmedabad, in the second summer that hits many Indian cities during October, is a baking, simmering venue for the first Test between India and New Zealand. The Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera is a chequerboard of sere-brown and weak-green squares, and the all-vital 22-yard strip has only faint tinges of green on an otherwise dusty surface.

Both Stephen Fleming and Sourav Ganguly, however, used the adjective "good" to describe the pitch. Fleming, pointing out that it still had one day to dry under the sun, opted to leave the announcement of his team's composition until the toss.

In a significant departure from the past, the Indian team management named their final XI well before the match. L Balaji was named in the line-up, ensuring that there will be two debutants in the Indian team (Akash Chopra is the other). Yuvraj Singh, Aavishkar Salvi and Sairaj Bahutule were omitted from the 14-man squad named earlier.

Fleming refused to read too much into his side's none-too-heartening performances against the Board President's XI at Visakhapatnam and India A at Rajkot. "They were four days of cricket after a six-month layoff," he said. "There were some good things that came out of them, and some cobwebs blown away." Ganguly too was cautious about dismissing New Zealand on the basis of their lead-up games. "The mindset in a Test match is different from that in a warm-up match, and you can't really say anything about New Zealand's form."

The games, Fleming said, were as vital an element of practice as the much-talked-about "simulated conditions" New Zealand employed during their preparation. "The heat is a huge factor, admittedly, but it isn't humid, so that is good for us," he said. "We are more likely to perspire than the Indians, and this suits us better."

Fleming went on: "It'll be a tough battle. We expect the expectations of the Indian team to win 2-0, because of the public and the media. We can't be any more prepared than we are now, and most of it from hereon in will be mental."

In the mental balance-sheet, India can claim the edge, and not just because of their prowess at home. When these two sides last met at Ahmedabad, in 1999, India piled up 583 in the first innings, with Sachin Tendulkar hitting 217 and Ganguly 125. Little wonder, then, that Ganguly said confidently: "If you look at the performances and the statistics, we can be confident of doing well."

Ganguly did let drop veiled hints that he did not favour the omission of Sanjay Bangar, which disrupted any possibilities of fielding five bowlers and allowing them longer spells of rest under the hot sun. "Sanjay is not in the side, for whatever reasons, so the role of fifth bowler will be shared by myself, Sachin and Virender Sehwag."

The heat will be a crucial influence on this Test. Even natives of Ahmedabad were surprised at the high temperatures, and hopeful of a spot of rain to cool things down. None seems in the offing, however, and the heat will only climb when many thousands of spectators fill this bowl of concrete to cheer on the players tomorrow.

Teams
India 1 Akash Chopra, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 L Balaji.

New Zealand (from)
Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Richard Jones, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Robbie Hart (wk), Daniel Vettori, Ian Butler, Michael Mason, Daryl Tuffey, Paul Wiseman.

[Donny]

India are batting steadily after winning the toss in the first Test against New Zealand.

Sehwag (29) and Chopra opened with 35 before Chopra (42) and Dravid (38 n.o.) added 72 for the second wicket. After 40 overs, India is 2/110.

[Donny]

A big wicket for The Black Caps as Styris gets Tendulkar for 8.

India are 3/136 with Dravid on 54 n.o.

[JLC]

There seems to be about 100 people in the crowd including players.....lol

jlc

[Donny]

Ya not kidding, m8. I can't understand it.

A home Test in a cricket mad country of over a billion people !!

Is it that it's only New Zealand ??

When Sach went out, half the crowd (50) left.

[Donny]

Dravid just went to a century (103 n.o.) and Laxman is 54 n.o. as India move on to 3/239.

[Donny]

At stumps, India is 3/239 with Dravid and Laxman undefeated and 119 runs into a solid partnership.

Watching this first day just reminds me how dull Test cricket can be if the Aussies aren't involved.

With Bond and Cairns out of the N.Z. attack, it looks very ordinary. Dravid's 110 n.o. from 235 balls was workmanlike and Laxman's 56 n.o. from 120 balls was solid. Ho hum.

[JLC]

Dravid has a double century.............they only turn up when Australia is playing it seems ??

jlc

[Donny]

Dravid just went out for 222. India is 5/446. Laxman made 64 and Ganguly is 75 n.o. Vettori has two wickets.

[Donny]

Ganguly brings up his century and India's 500.

[Donny]

India declared on 5/500.

Zaheer Khan sent shock waves through New Zealand with 3 wickets in his first 5 overs, including Stephen Fleming. They are 3/16

[Donny]

Zaheer rocks New Zealand

The Wisden Bulletin by Chandrahas Choudhury

A rip-roaring spell of fast bowling from Zaheer Khan had New Zealand gasping for breath in the last session of the second day, as they struggled to fashion a response to India's 500 for 5 declared. Zaheer knocked over the top three of the New Zealand batting order in successive overs, and left them precariously placed at 41 for 3 at stumps. Zaheer's spell vindicated Sourav Ganguly's decision to declare with over an hour left in the day's play, and set the New Zealanders the task of playing out 19 overs on what was, after all, a perfect batting pitch. Ganguly declared as soon as he had reached his tenth Test hundred, which supplemented Rahul Dravid's monumental 222, his third Test double-century.

Zaheer's first three overs were not significantly interesting, as he strove to work out what was on offer for him on a slow pitch, one on which the New Zealand fast bowlers had quickly resigned themselves to bowling a decent line and length and hoping for the best. But Zaheer is quicker than Daryl Tuffey or Jacob Oram, and he kept Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent honest with slight variations of length and a hint of inswing.

Then came the wickets. First, Richardson was hurried into a defensive stroke, half-forward, to a delivery that seamed into him, and the ball took the inside edge and sent the off stump cartwheeling. That sight would have sent the heart of a fast bowler pounding on any kind of pitch, and Zaheer, whooping with delight, his fists pumping, was so energised by the wicket that he promptly looked twice the bowler he had been at the start. He then proceeded to set up Vincent with another wonderful piece of bowling. The right-handed Vincent had looked to tackle Zaheer's biggest threat, his incoming ball, by only playing at anything on the stumps. But Zaheer got one to pitch in line and go across him from slightly wide of the crease, and the ball flew off the edge in the direction of first slip. It was Parthiv Patel, though, who dived for the ball and came up with a sensational one-handed catch.

And Zaheer's third wicket was the most crucial and the most emphatic dismissal of all, that of Stephen Fleming. He played no stroke to a ball that pitched just outside off stump, and slumped in dismay as he heard the rattle of timber behind him. It was fast bowling at its very best.

The last session was the most absorbing of the day, but the groundwork for India's position of strength was laid earlier by Dravid and Ganguly. India scored only 71 runs in the morning session for the loss of VVS Laxman, who attempted to hit Daniel Vettori down the ground and only found Paul Wiseman at mid-on. Laxman made 64, and after his departure Ganguly and Dravid played out the rest of the session, before taking charge after lunch. They added 118 between lunch and tea, and 182 runs in all for the fourth wicket.

Dravid brought up his double-hundred shortly before tea, with a flick through midwicket off Scott Styris. It took him 365 balls and just over nine hours, and he progressed to his highest Test score before getting a faint edge to a ball from Oram, a rare mistake in what was otherwise an immaculate innings, and prompted perhaps by his desire to force the pace. He was replaced by the diminutive Patel, who showed that he had improved his batting since his last Test match nine months ago by playing a delightful little cameo. He hit Oram for three fours in one over, sending his home crowd into raptures, and had no compunctions about taking on Tuffey, whether it was hooking his short-pitched balls or answering his barbs. He put on 53 for the sixth wicket in quick time with Ganguly, and his brilliant catch to dismiss Vincent made it a very satisfying day's work for him.

It was also an eventful day for Ganguly: he led the Indian run-charge after Dravid was out, made a hundred to bolster his dipping Test average, and was involved in an incident that was the first of its kind in Test cricket. He late-cut a ball from Vettori to third man and ran two, but umpire Rudi Koertzen, who had earlier seen his colleague David Shepherd issue a warning to Ganguly for running on the pitch, adjudged that Ganguly had repeated the offence and disallowed the runs.

[Donny]

Nathan Astle and Scott Styris are fighting back. Their partnership has just reached 52. Astle is 33.

[Donny]

Astle has continued the good fight and is on 67.

He and McMillan have added 61 for the 5th wicket. McMillan has 42 of them. Earlier, Styris was dismissed by Harbhajan for 34.

New Zealand is 4/169.

[Donny]

McMillan out for 54 but Astle continues.

He's 101. An extremely gutsy century after being at the wicket very early with N.Z. staggering on 3/16.