India beat NZ quite comfortably in the first ODI. This is how it happens when Indian batting fires and this is how it is going to happen on this tour. India batting did not do as well as expected during T20s and India lost both of them but this is not going to happen all the time.
India made explosive start with Sehwag at the fore-front and he tore apart Kiwi bowlers from the word go. The rain break also does not seem to affect him and India kept going at steady pace. Tendulkar was the first to go. NZ is among the few places where Sachin has not scored any ODI century and he should correct this in this tour which is his last in all likelihood. On his dismissal, Dhoni walked in at #3, an interesting move which I would take up in another post. Yuvraj struggled a bit on this pitch but after his dismissal, first Raina and then Pathan combined well with Dhoni and took India to a big total.
NZ innings started poorly with hero of T20s McCullum out cheaply and never got the momentum to challenge Indian total. The rain break also came at a very inopportune time since a wicket had just fallen which increased required total in D/L calculations. Meanwhile, Indian part spinners bowled well and restricted NZ top & middle orders.
Overall a thoroughly professional display by India. I still believe that NZ team is much more competitive than we saw yesterday and they would still give India a good fight in this ODI series. The series is far from over and Indians should not get complacent after winning the watch so easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment