da bet esporte： India’s bowling unit overcame the absence of Zaheer Khan to achieve what had been expected of the hosts at the start of the series
da aviator aposta： ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2010Saturday was a grey day in the New Zealand dressing room with newsfiltering through of the mishap at the Pike River coal mine on the SouthIsland, and some decidedly average batting on a none-too-spiteful pitchonly worsened the mood by the close of play. Until Jesse Ryder and BrendonMcCullum, battling physical limitations as much as the bowling or theconditions, stitched together a 42-run stand, it was all India, cutting aswathe through the line-up as they had been expected to before the seriesstarted.It was ironic that this capitulation came in circumstances where NewZealand should have most fancied their chances. They had won the toss, ata venue where the team batting first has won both previous matchesemphatically, and had to contend with an attack deprived of Zaheer Khan,India’s best bowler by a street and then some.In the talisman’s absence though, Sreesanth stepped up to show glimpses ofthe potential that was on view at the Wanderers four years ago when hesent South Africa tumbling to 84 all out. One of his better spells inrecent times was at Kanpur a year ago, when he wrecked Sri Lanka with theold ball and reverse swing. Here, he was back to doing what he had done sowell for two Tests in South Africa, landing the new ball on a good lengthwhile getting beautiful shape through the air.The seam was bolt upright and Martin Guptill had little chance with onethat squared him up completely, while Tim McIntosh was horribly late inbringing the bat down after Sreesanth got one to deviate a smidgen off thestraight. At the other end, Ishant Sharma was erratic, but his height andextra pace hurried the batsmen in a way they hadn’t been in the previous twoTests.There was opening-day joy for the spinners too, even though the surfacewas no 1990s-style dustbowl. “It was a bit slow, but doing something forthe spinners,” said Pragyan Ojha after the day’s play. Kane Williamsonwent to a half-hearted bunt, but the ball that got Gareth Hopkins was abeauty, turning across him to take the edge.With Harbhajan Singh piling on the runs in the absence of wickets, much ofthe focus after India’s failure to win the first two Tests has been onOjha’s role as the auxiliary spinner. MS Dhoni keeps stressing how he’sthe one to keep things quiet and Ojha, a strike bowler when withHyderabad, insisted that he has no qualms about the role that he has toplay.”When you’re playing for the country and the team needs you to dosomething, that’s what you should do,” he said. “When the wicket’sturning, you have to attack. When it’s in the batsmen’s favour, I feelthat if we give loose runs, it’s us that have to make them later.”I know I have to bowl very straight, but I don’t bowl negatively. Yes,I’m trying to contain the runs but I’m still attacking the stumps.”If India missed a trick, it was when Ryder and McCullum were battingtogether. There weren’t enough well-directed bouncers to force McCulluminto urgent evasive action and the spinners, too, didn’t often draw eitherman out of the crease to stretch already aching muscles. It took awonderful catch from Suresh Raina to end the impasse, and with rain in theair, that could be a priceless breakthrough in the context of the game.Even on one leg, Ryder looked a class apart.