Thursday, April 2, 2009

India just need a draw

With an unassailable lead in hand, India only have to guard against complacency and notoriously seaming track of the Basin Reserve.
If they amange to win they will notch their first Test win in New Zealand in 34 years when they take on New Zealand in the third and final match of the series.
Having won Tests at Adelaide, Perth, Trinidad, The Oval, Multan, Galle, Johannesburg and Hamilton, they are now faced with their biggest challenge of scoring a win at a venue where their last triumph came in 1975.
Having established a 1-0 lead at Seddon Park, they need to only draw the third and final Test here to achieve a historic series triumph, last accomplished by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's team in 1967-68.
But their task wouldn't be a stroll in the park as, unlike at Hamilton and and Napier, they will be tested on a sporting deck, which is expected to have a lot of carry and assist lateral movement off the seam.
If India can exorcise their fear against the moving ball, it would help to raise their bar in international cricket as a team which has won Test matches in all conditions and wickets, irrespective of it assisting pace, bounce, swing, seam and cut.
Somehow their inadequate skill or technique in combating the moving ball, has stuck out like a sore pimple on an otherwise good Test profile.
Lets see what will happen.

No comments: