2nd match of the Compaq Cup India Vs New Zealand

New Zealand under pressure to stay afloat

Match facts

Friday September 11
Start time 14.30 (9.00 GMT)

	India's middle order has been shaky against fast, short-pitched bowling and if a wicket goes down early, expect Rahul Dravid to walk out first © Associated Press
Related Links News : Dhoni backs flexible line-up to fill Gambhir void Players/Officials: MS Dhoni | Ashish Nehra | Jesse Ryder Series/Tournaments: Compaq Cup Teams: India | New Zealand

Big Picture

Despite finding out the morning before their first match that Gautam Gambhir had aggravated a groin injury and would take no part in the series, India's captain MS Dhoni was confident of the side's chances. He has reason to be.

This is India's third one-day series in Sri Lanka over the last 13 months. Where for decades India's record here had been nothing to crow over - they arrived for a tri-series in 2005 having won just nine of 33 matches - a strong one-day outfit has turned that record around dramatically.They have won seven of ten matches since then and in their last two series proved the past now counts for little, beating Sri Lanka 3-2 last August and 4-1 in February. In terms of rankings, there's plenty at stake for India in this series - if they go unbeaten into the final and win there, they will climb to No. 1 in the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.

India strutted their stuff at the two practice sessions they had since arriving two days after the tournament began, and look confident. There were no traces of rust in how their batsmen and bowlers applied themselves. On the whole, the manner of their preparation has been calm and self-assured even though Virender Sehwag, a critical cog in the batting line-up, is missing. Plenty of responsibility will be on Rahul Dravid, recalled to the one-day team after two years. India's middle order has been shaky against fast, short-pitched bowling and if a wicket goes down early, expect Dravid to walk out first.

To beat a confident Indian outfit, New Zealand will have to shape up in disciplines that let them down in the first game. Their batting was rocked by a superb display from three bowlers of varying speeds and trajectories - Ian Bishop called it one of the best one-day efforts under lights he had seen - but the application was perhaps to blame. The top order seemed intent on attacking from the start. In the field, New Zealand failed to finish the job when Sri Lanka were 69 for 5 in 25.3 overs, and also gave them leeway with singles and doubles in the field. That was surprising given how efficient they were in the Twenty20s. A defeat tomorrow will see them crash out of the short tournament.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
India NRWLWL
New Zealand LWLLNR

Watch out for...

Ashish Nehra's return to Sri Lanka. In 17 matches here, he has taken 25 wickets at 26.36 with a best of 6 for 59 in his last outing here. That match happened to be at the R Premadasa Stadium. A recall to the side after a stellar IPL in South Africa was followed up by a good showing in the West Indies. If he gets the chance to bowl under lights at the Premadasa this time, with the assistance it provides to swing, Nehra could add to his impressive tally in the country.

Jesse Ryder should take a look at this Indian team and say to himself, 'Right, let's get some runs here'. Ryder was in top form when India toured New Zealand earlier this year, and set the tone for a personally excellent series in the one-day leg. He scored a sublime hundred in Christchurch and then took three wickets and scored a half-century in the last game, smashing India's attack all around Eden Park. Conditions are obviously a lot different and hitting sixes at the Premadasa will be a difficult proposition, but Ryder may just decide to raise his game against this outfit.

Team news

Dinesh Karthik has been confirmed as the man to open the innings in Gambhir's absence, at least for this game. Dravid will bat at either of Nos 3 or 4. Dhoni said it was rare that India went in to a match with five specialist bowlers, and indicated that it would be a 3-1 combination, which means Harbhajan Singh will be the only spinner. Ishant Sharma, Nehra, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh will contest the fast-bowlers' slots, but it is likely RP will be the one to miss out. Abhishek Nayar will have to wait to get his chance.

India: (probable) 1 Dinesh Karthik, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

It's not been confirmed whether Kyle Mills, who was under the weather before the last game, will fit in this time. Daryl Tuffey stepped up admirably in Mills' absence, and Ian Butler's poor bowling in the batting Powerplay during the last match may see him sit out for Mills. The batting will remain the same.

New Zealand: (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Jacob Oram, 6 Grant Elliot, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Ian Butler/Kyle Mills, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Shane Bond.

Pitch and conditions

In the last match the pitch was two-faced and not an ideal one for one-dayers. It remains to be seen what is rolled out for Friday's encounter. As usual, scattered showers are forecast but fans will hope the rain stays away, as it did on Tuesday.

Stats and Trivia

Sachin Tendulkar averages 44.25 at the Premadasa, with 885 runs and three centuries from 24 matches.

Dravid averages 31.25 here, with 500 runs from 21 matches.

Quotes

"It is good to have him in the team. With that sort of experience, he is always going to help the team. It is wonderful to have him back in the squad."
India's coach Gary Kirsten is excited about Dravid's return

"New Zealand really missed him when he was in the ICL. He's their spearhead and the fast bowling goes to a new level with Bond."
Dhoni knows New Zealand's confidence will be up with the return of Shane Bond

Cricket is a game of Passion

The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century
to the present day, with international matches played since 1844 and
the Test cricket matches since 1877. During this time, the game
developed from its origins in England into a game, which is now played
all over the world passionately and is more popular in the
Sub-Continent Nations such as, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh.

In these four Nations, cricket has emerged as the most popular form of
sports. The game has its origin in the Sub- Continent Nations from18th
centuries and since then it has rooted itself on various grounds of
World. In this span of time the above three nation has faced several
rise and falls. As per Bangladesh is concerned, the origin of cricket
is seen from the 19th century. The nation also came with full-fledged
enthusiasm with well-known players. It is after that the four
Sub-Continent Nation faced tremendous victory and defeat.

With the commencing of Cricket World Cup in 1975, the popularity of
cricket reached on its peak. The game retained more zeal and passion.
However, for Sub-Continent Nation World Cup it becomes like an
obsession and even today the game is still holding the same passion
and fever.

When we move towards their previous history, we find that the top
three Sub-Continent Nation i.e. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had a
very brilliant past, holding World Cup once. India lifted the Cup in
the year 1983, under the captaincy of Kapil Dev,Pakistan lifted the
Cup in 1992, captained by Imran Khan. In 1996, Sri Lanka won the World
Cup match, under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. As per Bangladesh
is concerned, the popularity of cricket is found the same but it's
their bad luck, which never pulled them to win the Cup. Though, the
team is trying hard to get that!

2007 is the year for the ninth edition of the World Cup Cricket
Tournament, and the four Nations are holding its breath. The flow, the
passion is still the same but only the players and the captaincy and
getup has changed. The players are coming with their new outfits, with
new look carried with rocking fervor and stunning passion. In this
tournament India is being captained by Rahul Dravid, Sri Lanka is
being captained by Mahela Jayawardene, Pakistan is being captained by
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bangladesh is being captained by Habibul Bashar.

The hopes for these four Nations are dilemmatic, as their previous
performance, was not that much appealing. When we cast our view
towards India and Sri lanka, we found that Sri Lanka was defeated by
India in the recently concluded home series. As per Pakistan is
concerned, they are moving from a very bad phase, their players are
injured and the team is surrounded by many controversies. And, there
is no word to explain about Bangladesh. The prospect of World Cup is
under dilemma tic situation but the passion and popularity is still the
same among these four Sub-Continent Nations.

After words 2007 is not so good for Indian Team India as lots of
things are changing after the dramatically out of the worldcup. But as
year was emerging towards the end. New sensation, Passion and whole new
Era of cricket begin for the world As well as for India. The new Era
called T20 Cricket and what a start for it as it start the world cup
of it and India's winning.

So stay tune for the next artical in which i will try to recreate that
era with the same passion again in which T20 World Cup and IPL will
covered.

Written By
RUPESH KHOSAL