India start with a bang.....

India won the first test in an emphatic manner with a day to spare and reinforced the belief that they are indeed much superior to the Kiwis at the moment. That the Indians dominated almost each and every session of the match is another fact to support their domination over the proceedings. However, a test victory in NZ came after a long gap of 33 years is something hard to believe actually. Does that mean that no Indian team that ever toured NZ after Pataudi’s team was good enough to win a test match there? However, I do believe that winning a test match in NZ was more of a mental block than anything else. And the way, the current team is on a roll, it is indeed difficult for any team to pose a challenge to them.

Dhoni won the toss and decided to field first. Indians generally have been poor starters in a Test series abroad, especially when they start a tour with the Test series. However, this was not the case this time and Dhoni’s decision had more to do with an attacking intent of picking wickets rather than being a defensive one of shielding his batsmen from the early moisture in the pitch. The Indians seamers made a very good use of the conditions and the Kiwis were 61/6 by the end of the first session. That was a very decisive moment in the larger context of the result of the match. Kiwis were undone by some very good exhibition of pace bowling by the Indian trio of Zaheer, Ishant and Munaf and they were literally in shambles. The susbsequent sessions saw a rearguard action by Ryder and Vettori and they managed a pretty decent total of 279. Vettori and Ryder both got to their centuries and that was some consolation for both of them. Vettori indeed is a wonderful batsman especially in the tests and I have lost count of the number of occasions he has helped NZ to recover from some batting collapses (the latest being the Test series against minnows Bangladesh). Indian bowling was very disciplined and the bowlers made full use of the moisture present in the first session. As the day progressed, the pitch became better for batting and hence the centuries from Vettori and Ryder. Ishant was pick of the bowlers picking 4 wickets and its always good to see the youngster doing well. His presence as an attacking bowler in the Indian bowling department is something to cheer about. He also forms a pretty lethal opening attack with Zaheer Khan. Munaf is good bowler from a test match perspective and the bowlers overall did very well. India had to bat out seven overs in the Day 1 and the openers started their innings in pretty much one day mode with Sehwag being in a ruthless mood. India ended day one in a strong position having bundled the Kiwis for a rather modest 279 and scoring 29 without losing any wicket.

When Day 2 began, all eyes were on Sehwag, as the dashing opener from Delhi looked like murdering another hapless Kiwi attack. However, he was run out, courtesy some stupid calling by Gautam Gambhir, and in walked Rahul “The Wall” Dravid. The duo batted with a very sensible approach and steadied the innings. Gambhir departed for a well made 72 and deserve some praise for his batting as well. He consistently walked down the pitch to negate the swing that the bowlers could get and also was intelligent enough to put the run-out behind him. India later lost Dravid and Laxman by the close of play but they had touched the NZ first innings score by then and Sachin and Yuvi were still there. Day 2 also belonged to India, and it was good to see none of the batsmen getting carried away. All were willing to work hard for their runs, and it was a day of vintage test cricket.
When Day 3 began, Sachin was the cynosure of all eyes as he looked all set to get another hundred. Sachin began on a very confident note and hit some boundaries to make sure that he did not have to labour to the nineties. While Yuvi was out soon, Sachin continued to motor along with Dhoni at the other end. He reached his century soon and put on a valuable 115 run partnership with Dhoni. That was the stage where NZ started heading towards a sure defeat. Even when Dhoni got out, the Indian tail continued to wag with the likes of Bhajji and other bowlers chipping in with some invaluable runs. Zaheer made a very important and quick fifty and Sachin made a masterful 160. India amassed a huge total in 520 and looked on their way to achieve something which had eluded them for quite some time.
With a very handy lead of 241, NZ were always going to be under pressure. Their second note began on a disastrous note as McIntosh was out in the first over of Zaheer. Guptill batted well, but kind of threw his wicket to Bhajji and the tailender Mills could not survive the last over. At the close of third day’s play, India again held a position of complete advantage and supreme control and things looked pretty bad from the Kiwis’ perspective.
When play resumed on Day 4, it merely looked like a question of when and not how. NZ lost the wickets of Taylor and Ryder in the first session itself, and the writing was pretty much on the wall for Kiwis. Bhajji Singh bowled beautifully and from 199/8, the Kiwis did very well to reach to 279. McCullum did well for his 84, but then again it was only a question of delaying the inevitable. With a meagre target of 39 to chase, Gambhir and Dravid did the job in less than 6 overs to seal a memorable win.

For India, the win once again helped them stake their claim for the BEST side in the world. This stupendous victory was achieved by contribution from all the players and therefore is even more special. While Day 1 belonged to the Indian pace attack, Day 2 and 3 were set up by meaningful and substantial knocks by almost all the batsmen. Sachin lead the pack and I don’t think I can write any words that will do justice to all that he has done for Indian cricket. The man has donned the mantle of Indian batting for several years and he just refuses to bow down to anything. Way to go Sachin !
Day 4 was again marked by a wonderful display of spin bowling from Bhajji Singh, and it was good to see him getting into the role of India’s lead spinner by performance and not just by default. Indian pace attack lived up to the expectation and so did the Indian batting line-up. While Zaheer and Ishant can challenge the best of batsmen, we also have a very good spinner in Bhajji Singh. He bowled beautifully and once again made me fall in love with the art of spin bowling (The first time he did was in the infamous World Cup Final in 2003 when he had Hayden caught behind by Dravid).

If you are a NZ supporter, then things would look disappointing to you, to say the least. However, NZ are a very young team at the moment, and they have a long way to go. In Flynn and Ryder, they have atleast two new batsmen who belong to the Test cricket arena. Vettori is also more like a batsman these days and provides some strength to the lower order. However, their bowling looked very ordinary and Kyle Mills was the biggest disappointment of the match. He is the senior bowler in this bowling attack but looked like the least experienced of all. O’Brein was the one who impressed the most among the Kiwi bowlers. Even Vettori had a moderate outing, but then not many spinners fancy their chances against India. There would be at least a couple of changes in the team which faces India in the next Test. For India, the only concern is the injury to Sachin Tendulkar. Otherwise, India looks like the team to put your money on. Unless NZ raise the level of their game significantly, it is going to be another walk in the park for India at Napier.