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The Durban loss wouldn't have shocked too many Indian fans, given India's well-known batting woes on bouncy pitches. Suresh Raina struggles to handle extra bounce, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh get into trouble when seam movement is thrown into the mix, MS Dhoni is not in danger of losing his wicket but doesn't score as fluently against such deliveries and India don't have Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Virat Kohli has improved on this front - in 2008, Zaheer Khan troubled him with a lot of bouncers in an Irani Cup game - but India are still heavily dependent on Sachin Tendulkar to set the pace. He failed in Durban, and the rest, barring Kohli, couldn't handle the heat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya has said Daniel Vettori was the ideal replacement for RCB retired skipper Anil Kumble, and added that he “kept a little back” to secure the New Zealand captain amid the auction frenzy.
Mallya said: “Anil Kumble, who was our captain and the specialist spinner in the side, decided to join us as chief mentor, so I was looking for a quality spinner who could also bat.”
Mallya, who was on a flying visit to Christchurch yesterday, said he was delighted to have the experienced all-rounder''s services for the 2011 IPL.
He said it was bargain to buy Vettori for 550,000 dollars at last week’s IPL auction. “I bought many of my players early, before the auction really started warming up,” he said.
“When Vettori turn came, everybody had already spent so much money on the Indian players. I kept a little back, so I had the money to grab him,” he said.
Gul began Pakistan's dominance with a new-ball spell that oozed intent from the outset. Resisting the natural urge to crank up the pace when aided by a breeze, he relied on subtle sleight of hand and a high release to probe away at the top order. In the first over, he got a swerving inducker to strike Brendon McCullum - who was not offering a shot - above the knee roll. Umpire Daryl Harper ruled in Gul's favour, though replays suggested the bounce was taking it over the stumps. Things were evened out in Gul's next over, when Martin Guptill edged a legcutter on its way to Adnan Akmal, unnoticed by Harper.
Pakistan's seamers punctuated spells of ordinariness with sparks of brilliance to dismantle New Zealand's top order and put their side ahead at stumps. Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed were lethal in the first hours of the first two sessions, and though Ross Taylor survived their bursts with a mix of caution and enterprise, the home batsmen suffered from a general lack of confidence that prevented them from counterattacking when the bowlers were on song, and from dominating when they weren't.
