Christchurch, February 25
Suresh Raina’s fighting unbeaten 61 went in vain as world champions India began their New Zealand tour on a dismal note with the hosts thrashing them by seven wickets in the first Twenty20 cricket match here today.

Put into bat, India recovered from a mid-innings slump to post a competitive 162 for eight but that proved insufficent as the Kiwis overhauled the target with seven balls to spare.

Brendon McCullam (56 not out), Martin Guptill (41), Ross Taylor (31) and Jacob Oram (29 not out) were the notable performers for the hosts who have taken a 1-0 lead in the two match T20 series.

India started off with a flourish but failed to sustain the tempo to find themseves in trouble at 61 for five by the eighth over. Some lusty hittings by Raina and Harbhajan Singh (21) at the end provided some respectibility to the total.

Raina and Harbhajan Singh stitched 61 runs for the eighth wicket, the highest partnership in the innings. Teen sensation Ishant Sharma struk in the first ball of his first over, trapping left-handed Jesse Ryder (1) to give India the kind of start they needed.

Martin Guptill could have been back in the hut in the very next ball but Kiwi umpire Evan Watkin was not impressed with the appeal.

Replacing Ryder at the wicket, Guptill offered no shot to one, which came back in and could have castled his stumps but Watkin though otherwise. Television replays also showed that the ball could have knocked down off-stump. The hosts moved steadily towards the target as Guptill and Brendon McCullum batted smartly, avoiding risks and putting bad balls to the fence.

Black Caps crossed the 50-run mark without losing any more wicket, causing tension in the Indian camp. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, making a comeback to the team, provided the breakthrough when he trapped well-set Guptill to keep India afloat in the match.

Before departing, Guptill hit four fours and three sixes and shared a 54-run stand with McCullum. Building on the good start, Ross Taylor and McCullum carted Indian bowlers all around the park.

Taylor hit Yusuf Pathan for two sixes and one four in the 12th over to bring up 100 for the hosts. As the match yet again tilted towards the hosts, Indian paceman Zaheer Khan dismissed Taylor (31), raising Indian hopes once again. But in the end McCullum and Jacob Oram romped home without any difficulty. — PTI

India:

Gambhir b O'Brien 6

Sehwag b O’Brien 26

Raina not out 61

Rohit c B McCullum b Butler 7

Yuvraj lbw b Vettori 1

Dhoni b Butler 2

Yusuf c Oram b N McCullum 20

Irfan c N McCullum b Ryder 12

Harbhajan b Southee 21

Extras (lb-3, w-3) 6

Total (for 8 wickets in 20 overs) 162

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-32, 3-54, 4-56, 5-61, 6-82, 7-101, 8-162.

Bowling: Southee 4-0-42-1,O’Brien 4-0-36-2, I Butler 4-0-29-2, D Vettori 4-0-18-1, N McCullum 2-0-27-1, J Ryder 2-0-7-1.

New Zealand:

Ryder lbw b Sharma 1

B McCullum not out 56

Guptill lbw b Harbhajan 41

Taylor b Khan 31

Oram not out 29

Extras (w-5, nb-3) 8

Total (for 3 wickets in 18.5 overs) 166

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-56, 3-106.

Bowling: Zaheer 4-0-20-1, Ishant 4-0-35-1, Irfan 3-0-38-0, Harbhajan 4-0-19-1, Yusuf 2.5-0-37-0, Yuvraj 1-0-17-0.

India found out just why New Zealand is such a tough side to beat in their conditions. Of course a T20 game can go either way in a matter of deliveries and so not much should be read into the result but from a morale boosting point of view it is imperative that India strike back in the next game.

New Zealand’s captain and players have been very shrewd in the way they have championed India as the best team in the world and have hinted at being awestruck by the great names in the Indian squad.

What this does is take away the pressure on them as even the average New Zealand supporter begins to say ‘hey our own guys rate India as the superior team so we shouldn’t expect much’. Thus with the pressures of expectations reduced it is easier to go out and play ones natural game.

Having said that India must look closely at the manner in which the usually swashbuckling Brendon Mccullum batted. Quite clearly he was told that he had to stay till the end and that’s exactly what he did.

There was no big attempt to blast away for six’s but to play boundary shots with less risk attached.

It was clever tactics and one that India must look at seriously with its own batsmen. What the batsmen need to be told is just because the grounds are small it does not mean that sixers will be easy to hit. Even in club cricket it is not easy to hit the ball over the ropes and at the international level it is much more difficult.

How often have quick bowlers fallen into the trap of banging the ball in short on a lively bouncy wicket rather than pitch it up and get the batsman out. The thrill of seeing the ball thud into the keepers’ gloves makes even experienced bowlers waste their energy, pitching it half way when a fuller length is more rewarding.

Similarly a small ground does not mean that only sixes should be thought of. Sure in a T20 match big shots have to be attempted but not off every ball. India’s batting fell into that trap and could register only 162 which on such a small ground was going to be hard to defend as it eventually turned out.

India will also do well to look at how well the spinners of both sides bowled. Both Vettori and Harbhajan conceded less than 5 runs per over which is fantastic stuff and that too on a small ground. The Kiwis ambushed India and hopefully India will be ready next time around. — PMG

Karachi, February 25
Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal joined the run feast with a scintillating unbeaten 158 as the high-scoring first cricket Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended in a draw here today.

Pakistan declared their first innings for 765 for 6, 121 runs ahead of Sri Lanka's total and the visitors made 144 for five from 31 overs in their second essay on the fifth and final day at the National Stadium here.

The result of the match on the flattest of pitches was a foregone conclusion and the only interest left on the final day was whether captain Younus Khan would get past legendary Pakistani Hanif Mohammad's 337 or West Indian Brian Lara's world record highest innings score of 400 not out.

But Younis’ dismissal early in the morning with the addition of just seven runs to his overnight 306 left almost nothing at stake before Akmal's entertaining innings.

Akmal and Yasir Arafat (50) added another 169 for the unbroken six wicket in 38.3 overs before Pakistan declared their innings in reply to Sri Lanka's 644 for seven declared.

Younis, who became the only third Pakistani to hit a triple century, not only failed to get past Hanif Mohammad’s record but also fall short of Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 329. — PTI

Sri Lanka (1st innings): 644-7 dec.

Pakistan (1st innings) (overnight 574-5):

Younis b Fernando 313

Akmal not out 158

Arafat not out 50

Extras: (b-5, lb-11, nb-18, W-5) 39

Total: (for 6 wkts, 248.5 overs) 765

Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-78, 3-227, 4-357, 5-531, 6-596.

Bowling: Vaas 36-10-66-0, Fernando 39-2-124-2, Mendis 59-14-157-1, Muralitharan 65-14-172-1, Dilshan 19-3-82-0, Paranavitana 5-0-33-0, Sangakkara 10-0-34-0, M Jayawardene 6.5-0-41-1, Warnapura 9-0-40-0.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings):

Paranavitana run out 9

Warnapura c Akmal b Gul 2

Sangakkara lbw b Kaneria 65

Dilshan c Iqbal b Gul 8

M Jayawardene c Iqbal b Kaneria 22

Samaraweera not out 24

P Jayawardene not out 7

Extras (nb-7) 7

Total (for 5 wickets, 31 overs) 144

Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-32 3-45 4-103 5-120.

Bowling: Gul 9-1-41-2, S Khan 6-0-33-0, Arafat 6-0-32-0, Kaneria 9-1-35-2, Malik 1-0-3-0.

BRIEFLY

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