NZ make most of Indian hospitality

Desperate bowling changes notwithstanding, captain Sachin Tendulkar must have left the field reasonably happy, having won his first home series as after reinstallation with a series win. The equation on the final day was simple a victory could be traded by scoring 424 runs, or by claiming 10wickets. The tourists obviously thought the run-chase was foolhardy. With the pitch playing true against expectations even after four days of wear and tear, the hosts simply did not have enough penetration to run through a side as determined for a draw as New Zealand was on Tuesday.

Indians hoped for success early, keeping in mind the visitors’ open and shut act at the top of the order in recent years. But the new pair of Mathew Horne and Gary Stead grabbed the tour’s last opportunity to change the whole scenario for both sides. Horne has that knack of playing the SOS operator once a while. Earlier this year in England, where he had a pedestrian series, the lone bright spot was his century at Lord’s which gave the Kiwis a historic win.

The story continued in this series. After his forgettable outings before he hit the middle last evening, Horne’s 41 in more than two hours at the wicket today played a major role in the Kiwi rescue act.

At the other end was Stead, playing his first match in the series.Stead, whose hero is the street-fighting Australian skipper Steve Waugh, displayed ominous signs of the same grit and conviction. The openers saw to it that the Indian bowlers had lunch with empty pockets.

Indian strike force of Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble had their moments but the openers, who walked in with glue pots, did not rip off. Srinath had a lot to shout about his last ball of his second over that hit Stead on the pads but the umpire was unmoved. This was one of many such incidents during the last five days. A medical check-up at the end of play will certainly reveal a broken heart, besides the paining limbs.

Temporary stimulus was provided to the day’s proceedings after Kumble and Harbhajan Singh struck just after lunch, sending back the openers. The wickets, however, accounted more for the batmen’s fatigue than bowler’s tardiness.

The next pair of Craig Spearman and captain Stephen Fleming then took permanent posting on the pitch and the Indians merely slogged through to the seventhmandatory overs before the sides settled for a draw. Fleming, who has checked in with loads of patience on this tour, once again seemed at ease in Indian conditions. He finished with 64 while Spearman was unbeaten on 54.

The hypothesis on the day’s plays could be summed thus — the kings of crumbling wickets need dentures when they come across a true track.

SCOREBOARD
India (1st innings) 583-7 declared.
New Zealand (1st innings) 308.
India (2nd innings) 148-5 declared.
New zealand (2nd innings)
Mathew Horne c sub (Bharadwaj) b Kumble 41 (164b, 216m, 3×4)
Gary Stead c MSK Prasad b H Singh 78 (173b, 221m, 10×4)
Craig Spearman not out 54 (129, 162m, 9×4)
Stephen Fleming not out 64 (114b, 175m, 11×4)
Extras (1b, 5lb, 9nb) 15
Total: (for 2 wickets in 95 overs, 380 minutes) 252.
Fall of wickets: 1-131 (Horne, 54.3 overs); 2-131 (Stead).
Bowling
Javagal Srinath 15-3-59-0 (1nb)
Venkatesh Prasad 13-2-36-0
Anil Kumble 31-16-57-1(4nb)
Harbhajan Singh 26-8-55-1
Sachin Tendulkar 5-2-19-0
Saurav Ganguly 4-0-20-0 (4nb)
Rahul Dravid 1-1-0-0.
Man of the match Sachin Tendulkar.
Man of the series Anil Kumble.
Result Game drawn and India wins the series 1-0.