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Previous Stories Why Cricketers Are More Sporting Than Golfers A cracking tournament in Dhaka New Zealand cricket is on track Taranaki Ignore the Distractions An Extraordinary Sporting Family Another New Cricketing Experience Dave Eats His Crow - A First Time For Everything Black Caps Are Not Strictly For The Birds Not Beefing, Just Disappointed There Are None So Blind That Will Not See A Matter of A Satisfactory Start Horse Laughs and Crocodile Tears A Slow Over Rate Means A Slow Team
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India is not the sort of team to bend over without recovering some pride. They chose to bat and the concept of opening with Tendulkar was continued, although Ganguly had returned after missing the match with Pakistan. It was as risky as ever, for at Trent Bridge the conditions often favour seam bowling. The Kiwis failed to take proper advantage for Dion Nash bowled some ordinary overs while Allott conceded an uncustomary 24 from his first four. The advantage looked to be firmly India's. Suddenly Nash produced the ball of the day, jagging in through Tendulkar's gate to take out the middle stump. It was his only contribution in an otherwise mediocre performance but it had enormous significance on the rest of India's batting as usual. Only Jadeja managed more than 30, although they all made a start. New Zealand were clearly missing a strike bowler and it remained a mystery that Doull was still on twelfth man duties. The Trent Bridge conditions would have suited his swing bowling ideally and there are plenty of Indian batsmen with vivid memories of his seven successive wickets in the Boxing Day test at the Basin Reserve Ganguly was cleanly yorked by Allott when the leftarmer returned for a much-improved spell, and meanwhile Dravid, after playing some superb strokes, was snapped up by Fleming at gully. This paired up Jadeja with his captain and they looked likely to take India into an unattainable position. They had added 90 at five per over when Larsen made one climb at Azhar whose hook merely sent the ball skyward. Robin Singh showed his usual belligerence and New Zealand were looking quite rattled at 45 overs. But Allott was into his last and most telling spell, showing why he is the bowler of this World Cup. It was a very accurate effort that yielded only nine runs from his last six overs. Cairns aided him and forced Jadeja, who had played a sparkling innings, to heave wildly upward and in the same over Robin failed to beat home a quick throw from Fleming on a highly ambitious call. The total of 251 looked a lot less than was threatening and for once the Kiwis managed to survive the worst of the new ball attack. All top four batsmen looked uncertain and likely to fall at any moment. Somehow the openers got through to 45 and then Fleming helped Horne to ease the score through to 90 in the 22nd over. He lost patience against the persistent Mohanty who had again bowled his ten overs very effectively. So had Srinath and Prasad but Kumble went for 21 from his first three overs as Twose joined Horne in a most productive partnership of 83. An unnecessary single attempted by Horne saw him thrown out by the lively substitute fielder Chopra, whose rare appearance made one wonder why he wasn't providing the missing skills of a fifth specialist bowler. For the spare part men were expensive, going for 45 off their eight collective overs before the rain came. On the resumption Azhar had to revert to Robin who was simply not able to contain. It remains India's problem and is probably the single major factor in their failure to make the semifinals. The dominant presence of Twose settled many Kiwi nerves as he steered his side home with another eminently sensible innings. He put away the big hits through midwicket on this occasion, content to work the ball around the park with his eye firmly on the target. The rain break of well over an hour merely served to postpone what became an inevitable result, primarily because New Zealand had everything to play for and India, with the best will in the world, simply the prospect of returning home for the post mortems. However there was a spirited effort by India to try and control the match, despite their deficiencies in attack. They held the redoubtable Cairns to only 11 runs from 30 deliveries, but weren't prepared for the onslaught of the diminutive keeper Adam Parore. He smashed two fours high through the offside off Robin and then took three boundaries in an over worth 15 when Srinath bowled out. Parore punched the air with delight after each four and then both players punched together when Twose pulled for the winning four. He had played another superb hand for his adopted country and had brought his average for the Cup tournament to an impressive 90 runs per innings. He had promised to make his mark on this Cup and now has at least one further major opportunity. The last Super Six match was gripping, for Australia came back from the dead to force their semifinal place. It was all down to gritty captain Steve Waugh who played an innings that "Skid" Marks said was the best he's ever seen. South Africa now has to play Australia again and it's their own fault. They missed Waugh twice, the first when Gibbs caught the ball and then lost it with his bullshit throwing it up. This time he hadn't completed the catch first. So we play Pakistan in the first semi at Old Trafford and we must play Doull this time. Our chances may depend on whether the Pakis want to win the World Cup or their bets. My guess is the Cup will be worth more this time so we will have to win on our merits. I believe we can, because the Pakis are a volatile lot who can run off the rails quite easily. Once we've won the semi it won't matter who we play in the final - either will be tough but they are both beatable! Thrills ahead! Send Dave your ideas of the Black Caps prospects.
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