OPEN AND SHUT CASE

Taking a leaf out of compatriot,and the Kiwi skipper during the 92 World Cup,Martin Crowes book,and factoring in the dew,Daniel Vettori sprang a surprise by opening the attack with a spinner: Nathan McCullum.

The ploy worked,at least initially,as India could manage just five runs in the first three overs,despite having two aggressive openers in the middle.

The off-spinner bowled with a tight leash,to be certain,but if the Indians didnt step out and take the fight to him,it was because they seemed conscious of not throwing away their wicket.

Both Gambhir and Vijay perhaps knew that as much as they were playing together,they have also been batting against each other of late.

Its an under-the-surface rivalry that seems to have spilled over from the recently concluded Test series. Gautam Gambhir,after carrying his prolonged slump into the second Test match at Hyderabad,has to put his head down for a scratchy 58 to barely hold off Vijay from taking his place in the XI.

Another half-century in the third Test at Nagpur meant he had an elbow room now. The danger was averted,but only just. But with the tricky South Africa series just around the corner,more needed to be done. It perhaps explains the initial anxiety in Jaipur on Wednesday evening.

Breaking free

But then,Gambhir cant be chained for too long.  After curbing his instincts for those three overs,the left-hander threw caution to the wind. The first boundary might have been rather fortunate,with the Kyle Mills ball from good length taking an inside edge and missing the stumps on its way to fine-leg,but nothing was left to chance thereafter as he drove,cut,pulled and punched his way to his 22nd half century,in just 44 balls.

Vijay,at the other end,went from being cautious to into a shell. His first boundary came off in the 14th over,a confident pull off Daniel Vettori,but that was the only shot where he looked self assured. He survived a few leg-before appeals off the Kiwi skippers bowling but Vettori finally got his man in the 18th over,bowling him through the gate as Vijay attempted to sweep him. He might not have done enough on this day to put pressure on Gambhir,but alongside his captain,he ensured that India were off to a solid start,with the scorecard reading 87/1 in 17.4 overs.

Meanwhile,the left-hander carried on in the same vein,while Virat Kohli picked up from where he had left off in Guwahati,as the duo added 116 runs for the second wicket to slam the door on New Zealand.

Gambhir brought up his eighth ODI hundred by smacking Andy McKay to mid-wicket boundary.

Kohli looked every bit the man who is riding the form of his life,scoring a classy 64 off 73 balls,before pulling a McKay delivery to Ross Taylor at mid-wicket,having hit the bowler for two successive fours. The second breakthrough came very late for New Zealand,and Gambhir and Yuvraj as if in a hurry to finish off the things saw the team home in just 43 overs.

Gambhirs knock also rounded off what a perfect day for India across all departments. Putting New Zealand in,Indias medium pacers bowled a tight leash on a slow track,while spinners got wickets at regular intervals. Sreesanth delivered the standout performance,scalping four wickets for 47,including Scott Styris 59 and Daniel Vettori 31 off successive deliveries just when New Zealand were threatening to cut loose.

It was an improved performance by the visitors with the bat,with Martin Guptill top scoring with 70,but fell short by 30 runs and then they ran into a rampaging Gambhir.

For the Indian left-hander,the knock couldnt have come at a better time. The struggling half-century in Hyderabad had proved a point to the selectors and the team management,the 78-run knock in Nagpur must have given him much-needed self-belief,and now the ton here should send a strong message to the pretenders: hes still one-half of Indias best opening attack ever.