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After Match-fixing , New Zealand thrash India badly !
By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
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The Balck Caps reigned supreme in Aukland showcasing their cricket prowess after letting their guests from India to win the series mercifully or on prior arrangement. It seems the Carribeans can easily be controlled by the fortune givers. A much superior New Zealand went down in ODI series, but thrashed Indians in the fifth and final ODI on 14 Mach in Auckland ( New Zealand v India , 5th ODI) All-round Ryder scripted resounding consolation win for his team. And, New Zealanders, once again, after the 20/20, finally, showed the door to the visitors from India once the match-fixing terms ended and the last ODI the hosts won in a rare style. A thrashed India is still playing against NZ in Test matches. As the entire world watching, India 's winning streak finally snapped as New Zealand cruised to an eight-wicket consolation win in the fifth and final One-Day International in Auckland to deny the visitors a clean sweep of the ODI series. The Indians, who had already clinched the series, had to be content with a 3-1 scoreline with the Kiwis restoring some pride by convincingly winning the last game. Both the teams would renew their rivalry in a three-match Test series starting March 18.
All cricket stalwarts of India crashed down miserably unable to reach double digit. NL did not even let Y. Pathan to open the account and had to be contented with zero mark. New Zealand chased down the meagre target in just 23.2 overs after Jesse Ryder (63) gave them a flying start and Martin Guptill (57 not out) stayed till the end to see the side through in what turned out to be a one-sided contest at the Eden Park . It turned out to be a memorable outing for Jesse Ryder who also scalped three wickets for 29 runs in his nine overs. India 's awe-inspiring batting order witnessed a rare collapse and the visitors were skittled out for a paltry 149 runs in 36.3 overs and the score could have been embarrassing but for Virender Sehwag] (40) and Rohit Sharma] (43 not out).. India(149/10 in 36.3 ovs) Run Rate: 4.08. The Indian crash forced a considerable reduction in NL innings as well. New Zealand (151/2 in 23.2 overs) Run Rate: 6.47
New Zealand chased down the meager target in just 23.2 overs after Jesse Ryder (63) gave them a flying start and Martin Guptill (57 not out) stayed till the end to see the side through in what turned out to be a one-sided contest at Eden Park . It turned out to be a memorable outing for Jesse Ryder who also scalped three wickets for 29 runs in his nine overs. The Indians, who had already clinched the series, had to be content with a 3-1 score-line with the Kiwis restoring some pride by convincingly winning the last game.
Around the same time, the NZ women thumped India by five wickets in a Super Six stage match of the ICC Women's World Cup in Sydney on 17 March ending the feeble Indian hopes for the onward march and on its triumphant march toward the finals. England thrashed West Indies by 146 runs to book their place in the Women's World Cup final - with one game of the Super Six phase still to be played. Their opponents will be decided on 19 March - with New Zealand in pole position ahead of Australia . It is the first time England has qualified for a World Cup final since they won the trophy in 1993. New Zealand , who won the Cup in 2000, know that a win over Pakistan in their final Super Six game on Thursday will guarantee them a place in the final with England .
It has been an impressive effort by the New Zealanders. They lost the toss, moved to field first but inserted India and bowled accurately to prove their "point" to the cricket world. Their fielding was superb as well and India was not allowed to get to a decent score, in fact they could not even utilize their full quota. When the hosts came out to bat, they never really needed to slog. The experienced campaigners from New Zealand led by opener charged in ful and ensured that there were no hiccups.
Test matches would begin on 18th and most probably the match-fixng talks are now under way, if not already decided for Test as well. One cannot just expect the NL cricketers play to their full strength on account of match-fixing tactics of Indians asking the hosts to deliver nicely for scoring 4s and 6s and make the Indians have high run rate at the beginning. More importantly, NL should not, according to match-fixing norms, throw any ball with the sole intention of removing the poor Indian batsmen and should, on the contrary, help “special Indians” to score 100s and 200s etc.
Cricket has become farce over decades with India seeking match fixing routes to “clinch” the series. Hindus are not ashamed of Indian “great role” in devastating match-fixing. The basic problem with Indian media is I they all think Indians the only eligible sports people for clinging the matches and they blast the victory news beyond the normal focus, while they keep mum when matches are lost. One has to search for news if India is lost, while the news would be posted as the top main news if a sport is won by India . They never care for the feat of opponents and only tries to find fault with Indian cricketers and not the plus points of the opponents. It looks India and its media would never change their dreadful mindset.
Both Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder are New Zealand 's most exciting batting talents at the moment and the cheers from the packed Eden Park stadium never died down. Perhaps the busiest people at the venue were the workers at the construction site on one side of the ground who had to fish the ball out of the rubble and unfinished stands. A team in the doldrums after three comprehensive defeats sprung to life thanks to the all-round efforts of their most exciting and marketable young cricketer, Jesse Ryder. His miserly spell of 3 for 29 sunk India to a paltry 149, but it was his delightful exhibition of lusty hitting which caught the imagination of the capacity crowd at the Eden Park stadium. Supported by an equally stylish Martin Guptill - who slammed an unbeaten 57 - Ryder put New Zealand on the path to a consolation win and the only blemish in his performance was not being able to stay till the end. It was as if New Zealand were playing on a different surface. The kind of swing which their bowlers managed in India 's innings was seemingly absent under lights and the ease with which Ryder went about bludgeoning the bowlers over the on side with exquisite pulls showed how the Indians were outplayed in the batting department.
India's only chance of mounting a fightback was to pick up early wickets but after Brendon McCullum's dismissal in the third over, they had to wait more than 12 overs for their next breakthrough, by which time Ryder and Guptill had already added 84.
There was a clear difference in the manner in which New Zealand went about their task, bowling to pick wickets instead of merely containing a trigger-happy top order. The faster ones like Iain O'Brien hit the deck harder and the slower ones like Ryder pitched it up and extracted movement. It brought back memories of the opening Twenty20 in Christchurch where India wasted a good start due to overconfidence.
The Kiwis used the cold, windy conditions to great advantage today and Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien seamed the ball disconcertingly, repeatedly beating Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the opening overs. Indian arrogance led to the pair's downfall of India . Unable to break free from the Kiwi clutches, Gambhir (5 off 16 balls) eventually tickled Mills to Peter McGlashan.Suresh Raina] (8) too was all at sea against the seamers, barely connecting when he chose to counter attack. McCullum made 40 off 27 balls, including three fours and three sixes. With their nemesis rid off the square, the Blackcaps moved in like hungry sharks to decimate the rest of the Indian batting. It was with the intent to complete a 4-0 rout that India fielded an unchanged side for the match and it would now take an exceptionally good bowling and fielding performance by them to stall New Zealand from salvaging some pride in this game.
The so-called “mighty” Indian batting came crumbling down like a pile of bricks as New Zealand skittled out the visitors for meager 149 runs in 36.3 overs in the fifth and final One-Day International in Auckland The result was a disappointing one for the huge contingent of Indians at the ground but the entertainment provided by Ryder and Guptill gave them their money's worth. The Kiwis used the cold, windy conditions to great advantage today and Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien seamed the ball isconcertingly, repeatedly beating Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the opening overs.
India has plenty of portals and now come to control yahoo too to control mindset of the world. Indian media boast too much of Hindus and their greatness and refuse to admit the strengths of opponents and their talents. In cricket match-fixing conventions help India win matches by “clinching” toss first and bat first and by secret agreements for 4s and 6s and high initial run rate allowed from opponents. New Zealand and Australia are much better than India. Indian media should boost the image of Hindus alone. The reports about and photos they publish opponents are malicious and stinking.
India not only wants to win the series, but also is greedy to clinch a clean sweep. Once again the age-old problem prevails. The Indians seem to lack the knack of completing a clean sweep. Recently they messed up in the series against Sri Lanka and who knows had the England ODI series went on, India might have just faltered there as well. They went on with their winning combination but even that didn't help something to do with their fortune perhaps. But on a serious note, they never played good cricket and were nowhere close to the standards they had set in this series till today. Their batting faltered and then the Kiwis stood up to avoid any upsets. And the match has got over; it almost went unnoticed amidst the fireworks launched by the bulky left hander from New Zealand, Jesse Ryder and Guptill. They took the Indians to the cleaners and one just got flown away with that so much that the victory almost sneaked through under the nose.
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-By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Delhi
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