Disappointing draw sours a good contest

Therefore, most of the New Zealand bowlers were incapacitated in some way, which would have reduced their effectiveness against the classy Indian batting line-up. With five one-day matches still to be played over the next ten days, the players also need to pace themselves to get through the season especially with South Africa due next month. All very valid excuses, but Test cricket is about challengesand performing over five days.

There are also times when you need to satisfy the needs of spectators and sponsors, and back yourself to win. I am sure the Australians and the South Africans would have been more positive than New Zealand and declared earlier, and put the batting side under pressure to survive on the last day.

When the declaration finally came at the dismissal of Chris Cairns’s wicket, India was left with 415 to win in a minimum of 56 overs. I doubt whether any team in the history of the game and would have been good enough to chase a target that size. It would have been nice for the sake of the game to see India chase 350 in 70 overs. History again would show that the team batting last needing in excess of 300 runs to win on last day is a daunting task with most teams left defending at the end of the day to avoid defeat.

New Zealand thoroughly deserved to win the series. With an international rating near bottom of the ladder, it was important to perform well. The players responded tomost of the challenges and dug deep to respond to some difficult situations. Mental toughness was an important factor in the team’s and individual successes. Career-best bowling performances by Doull, highest Test scores to Nash and Cairns, the consistent scores from Craig McMillan helped New Zealand secure victory.

India will be very disappointed with their overall performances during the series. The batting of Tendulkar, Azharuddin and Dravid was a delight to see, but too many other top order batsmen failed to impress when it mattered. The top order failed on all four occasions.

Srinath and Prasad bowled well but Kumble was unable to make an impact and get wickets even though he was accurate. Robin Singh in his first Test has a long easy to go to establish himself as a Test player. The catching too left a lot to be desired. In two matches at least ten catches were dropped. At this level of competition it is important to catch 95 per cent of the catches offered to be competitive.

The one-day serieswill be important for India to salvage something from this tour. New Zealand will be looking forward to the challenge.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand (1st innings): 366

India (1st innings): 416

New Zealand (2nd innings; overnight 323-6): Matthew Bell lbw b Tendulkar 25, Matthew Horne c Mongia b Srinath 26, Stephen Fleming b Prasad 18, Roger Twose lbw b Tendulkar 4, Craig McMillan c Mongia b Robin Jr 84, Adam Parore c Robin Jr b Kumble 50, Chris Cairns c Dravid b Kumble 126, Dion Nash run out 63, Daniel Vettori not out 43. Extras: (9b, 7lb, 1w, 8nb) 25Total: (for eight wickets declared in 137.5 overs) 464

Fall Of Wickets: 1-46, 2-69, 3-76, 4-85, 5-225, 6-225, 7-372, 8-464.

Bowling: Prasad 33-8-75-1, Robin Jr 19-3-102-1, Srinath 27-6-90-1, Kumble 45.5-13-124-2, Tendulkar 7-0-30-2, Ganguly 6-1-27-0

India (2nd innings): Ajay Jadeja c Parore b Cairns 21, Navjot Sidhu b Cairns 13, Rahul Dravid not out 103, Saurav Ganguly not out 101. Extras: (9lb, 2nb) 11. Total:(for two wickets in 52.1 overs) 249

Fall Of Wickets: 1-33, 2-55.

Bowling: Doull 4-0-17-0, Cairns 9-1-30-2, McMillan 17-4-59-0, Wiseman 12-0-80-0, Twose 9.1-0-50-0, Horne 1-0-4-0

Result: Match drawn

Man of the-Match: Chris Cairns (New Zealand)

New Zealand won the series 1-0

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Doug Cowie (New Zealand). TV umpire: Brent Bowden.

Match Referee: Barry Jarman (Australia)