Spotlight falls on NZ first innings
Black Caps need to dig deep and dig in as India look for 3- 0 clean sweep
Scrutiny again turns to New Zealand’s first innings performance if the visitors are to repel an Indian clean sweep in their three- test series.
India, freshly anointed as world No 1, look a tour de force and were buoyed in the build- up by extraordinary local support as Indore prepares to host its maiden test today.
When New Zealand have played away in the past 12 months, their first innings scores are acceptable. Excluding the 15- 2 in the washed out draw with South Africa, they have averaged 373 runs in eight innings as part of two wins, one draw and five losses. Remove two 500- plus declarations in the victories over Zimbabwe and the average drops to 304.
The problem lies in it being substandard relative to the opposition. They were behind on the first innings in all but the 624 against Australia at Perth and the anomalous Zimbabwe tests. Before the Australian tour they had not suffered defeat in a record seven series; now they have lost four of their last six.
Examples of inadequate first innings include the two tests of this series. Scores of 262 and 204 are no reason to incite panic or expect wholesale changes, but the top order is not providing the necessary base for bowlers to mark out their run- ups v Australia, Brisbane. Perth. Adelaide. Bulawayo. Bulawayo. South Africa, Durban. Africa, Centurion. India, Kanpur. India, Kolkata. with gusto. New Zealand have been 56 runs ( Kanpur) and 112 runs ( Kolkata) behind. Given they’ve batted fourth on both occasions, staying in conten- tion has proved impossible once India extended their lead.
Batting coach Craig McMillan acknowledged the problem.
“The reality i s neither of those scores are good enough, even if India won both tosses.
“A lot of our chats have been about the first 15 balls. Here the ball is moving constantly through the 80 overs so your footwork and mental adjustment at the start of an innings i s crucial, and we’ve lost three to four quick wickets because of those challenges.”
One theory is that player confidence is threatened without the security of the Decision Review System to insure against howlers.
“We’ve got to play straight and trust our defence,” stand- in captain Ross Taylor said in reference to the lack of DRS in the second test loss. “It’s easy to get insular over here. You’ve got to trust your game plan.”
On the plus side, McMillan delivered about half an hour of throwdowns to Kane Williamson on Thursday as the captain looks set to recover from his viral illness in time for the match.
McMillan also revealed his advice to struggling opener Martin Guptill.
“Keep leaving [ the ball] . . . my message to him is don’t get too down on yourself. He’s due.”
Heavy rain has fallen in the last three days, humidity levels are down and the players have trained in mid20 degree temperatures, which should swing some acclimatisation advantages back to the visitors.
Visible cracks means a return to a turning pitch looks likely. That could see Ish Sodhi considered ahead of Matt Henry or Neil Wagner. Henry was the standout with 6- 105 in Kolkata, but Wagner’s tenacity as the ball gets old would be missed if three spinners are preferred.
For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is out with a back strain, so either Umesh Yadav will return or Shardul Thakur will debut. Opener Gautam Gambhir i s set to replace Shikhar Dhawan and play his first test in more than two years.