India vs New Zealand:  Fourth ODI Queenstown, New Zealand Report status: End of match |
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Queenstown is considered the adventure capital of the Southern Hemisphere. But the tall hills that formed the background of the latest international cricket ground weren't the only reason that made the Indians feel dwarfed.
New Zealand's clinical performance helped them win the one-day series 4-0 and exposed the numerous chinks in the Indian armoury.
Inconsistency is passe. The Indian team in New Zealand has been consistently pathetic. In all four one-dayers, the much-vaunted Indian batting failed to last the full quota of fifty overs.
Today was no different as the Indians caved in for 122 after Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming inserted them after winning the toss.
Agreed that these are difficult conditions and the hectic schedule has jaded the players a fair bit. But will blaming the pitch after every game get us anywhere? Don't the Kiwis chase the target successfully despite the fact that all their batsmen -- barring Nathan Astle -- are in poor form? Add to that the absence of all-rounder Chris Cairns and you have a home team under pressure to maintain their winning record at home intact.
But India seems to have lost its way somewhere. The vision, the plans, have all gone awry. The discipline and method has been rinsed away with the dirty linen.
Michael Bevan -- whose credentials as the finest finisher in the shorter version of the game has few challengers -- simplified the art of the one-day game. He explained that one-day cricket is fairly structured. The batsmen can understand from the field placements where the bowlers will bowl. Rotating the strike is essential as is finding the gaps, he said.
India got none right and lost by seven wickets.
Coach John Wright had mentioned that he wants India to be a side with a flexible batting line-up.
Today was no different. Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Virender Sehwag -- the third opening combination in four games -- with Dinesh Mongia, who replaced VVS Laxman for the match, coming in at number three.
India is three games away from the World Cup tournament and there is still no fix on who will open the innings or who is number three. The Dravid-Sehwag combine though gave a semblance of sanity to the start of the innings. At 38-0 after 10 overs, it seemed that India would not end up with those humiliating 100-plus totals.
Sehwag, who shunned his usual blasting at the start of the innings, failed to resist the temptation to dip into the bowling and paid the price. He guided a ball from seamer Andre Adams straight into the slip cordon to begin the slide.
Adams, who was having a dream comeback game, bowled Dravid soon after. Mohammad Kaif was promoted up the order to number four and he rewarded the promotion with a duck, pulling the ball straight to a fielder placed in front of square-leg; the Indians, having lost their third wicket in four overs, were slipping again.
Mongia, who had landed less than 48 hours before the game, batted well before hooking the ball to fine-leg and getting caught. Skipper Ganguly slashed a nothing shot that flew to third man fielder and continued his streak of bad scores.
The middle-order, barring Yuvraj Singh, failed to fire yet again and folded up for 122 with seven overs remaining. Parthiv Patel made his one-day debut and batted with grit, supporting Yuvraj Singh well for his 13.
Andre Adams had a brilliant game, picking five wickets for 22, and could be one of the stars in the World Cup.
Javagal Srinath, leading a four-pronged pace attack, struck first blood when Nathan Astle snicked to Dravid at first slip. Fleming, under pressure for his batting failures, found some form with an industrious 47 to make the contest a one-sided affair. He scored 27 of his runs behind the wicket and was particularly severe on Ajit Agarkar, who was hooked for a six over the fine-leg fence.
Srinath picked another two wickets but his success did not translate into the team's success as they lost by seven wickets and more than 24 overs remaining.
The most depressing aspect of the game was the fact that the Indians had accepted defeat even before they walked onto the field after their batting failure.
