India v New Zealand 3 Tests + 5 ODI's series

[whats_at_stake]

No thread on this yet.

India is taking on New Zealand in the first Test in Ahmedabad today. India are in great form after their 2-0 win over Australia whilst New Zealand have a point to prove after losing 4-0 to Bangladesh in the ODI's.

Changes for India: Pujara, Vijay out for VVS and Gambhir. Suprisingly Sharma is not in despite being fit and Sreesanth keeps his place.

Changes for New Zealand: Kane Williamson and Hamish Bennet are debuting.

Dhoni finally wins a toss (lost something like 8 in a row?) and India will bat first.

India currently 66/1 off 14 overs with Ryder getting Gambhir out for 21. Sehwag naturally batting at more then a run a ball.

Game can be followed from Cricinfo (link below)- do not think there is any television coverage.

http://www.cricinfo.com/india-v-new-zealand-2010/engine/current/match/464531.html

[Plugger35]

Not often you see NZ playing a test series in India, they mainly play the bigger cricketing nations there like Australia, England and South Africa.

Hard to see NZ troubling India when they couldn't even beat Bangladesh but hopefully they can at least be competitive.

[Bomber Bears]

NZ bowling stocks are not very good, thats for sure

Vettori seems to be keeping some sort of control, everyone else punished. Martin should've retired after the Aust - NZ series

[Hellgood]

Sehwag dominating 57 off 56. Nothing else is really happening.

[whats_at_stake]

Slightly disappointed with Vijay and Pujara both missing out despite being the architects of the second Test victory against Australia.

As great a player as Dravid is, I would hope he retires at the end of the series to give some of the younger players a chance. Gambhir would also be on thin ice although he has been performing for a while.

[Hellgood]

Dravid seems to be struggling, not that it's really hindering India, Sehwag is carving up a pretty ordinary attack. That Bennett's got a crazy action.

[BACCS]

It is on Fox Sports 2.

[Bomber Bears]

Sehwag - 120 off 125
Dravid - 17 off 91

fmd

[TheStinger]

Did Sehwag forget that this is a Test match and the one dayers come later? He is caning it out there.

[whats_at_stake]

Dravid dropped by Hopkins and has now picked up his strike rate. I think he should retire although he would be useful for the tour of South Africa.

[Cooldude]

Dunno which genius decided to schedule more Tests against the Kiwis than the Aussies but it happened

[Bomber Bears]

already asked on cricinfo - Aus series was changed at last minute from a 7 match ODI series, whereas this tour was part of the FTP. Im assuming Aust-India will have a proper series in 2012 or so

[BACCS]

Who the **** are Williamson and Bennett? NZ seem to pull blokes out of no where each Test match, do they ever have a settled lineup anymore?

[TheStinger]

Vettori finally gets Sehwag for a lazy 173. Was a pretty tired/pained shot.

[MelVilander]

it has been painful to watch till now, hope they get Tenders early else an other mammoth grinding will ensue. Hope NZ dont start feeling that they arnt good enough to play test , it might look like the case now but they got to have to try. If they loose meakly here then the bang series becomes true.

[Bomber Bears]

Who the **** are Williamson and Bennett? NZ seem to pull blokes out of no where each Test match, do they ever have a settled lineup anymore?
Williamsons pretty highly rated, 20 years old and averages 46 in FC cricket, meant to be good.

Bennett, never heard of

India 3/330

[jackster83]

Patel is a terrible cricketer.

[Homer Jnr]

Bennett has the physical attributes, he is a big lump of a lad, but he can't be spearheading an attack in India with his inexperience.

Chris Martin = A joke. His jump in his delivery stride seems to labour his approach and hinder his momentum.

[Belnakor]

Expect Sehwag and SRT to score heavily in this series.

[amer]

Who the **** are Williamson and Bennett? NZ seem to pull blokes out of no where each Test match, do they ever have a settled lineup anymore?

Williamson is a big big prospect for them. Serious wraps, he has been spoken about for a while. Probably debuting a little earlier than they'd like though. Mind you that's coming from the bloke who is pro the idea of Hazlewood coming into our test side as soon as he's fit.

[whats_at_stake]

A big Indian collapse of sorts- now 418/8.

Really need to sort this out prior to the South African series- India have been collapsing a fair bit in in the last few Tests.

Guess spending so much time with the Australians recently has rubbed off on India haha.

[Cooldude]

That pitch is slower than Mark Richardson's sprinting speed

Can't believe curators can still serve up that kinda track

Makes Sehwag's innings all the more amazing

[Bomber Bears]

Williamson is a big big prospect for them. Serious wraps, he has been spoken about for a while. Probably debuting a little earlier than they'd like though. Mind you that's coming from the bloke who is pro the idea of Hazlewood coming into our test side as soon as he's fit.NZ is hardly awash with options.

Although their middle order with Ryder Taylor Williamson looks pretty solid for the future. Cannot remember NZ ever having decent opening batsmen however (maybe Richardson), they are constantly 2-not many.

[Bomber Bears]

oh and
4_NsFh-Z4aE

[ioppolo]

Cannot remember NZ ever having decent opening batsmen however (maybe Richardson), they are constantly 2-not many.

Steven Fleming was pretty good...

[Bomber Bears]

Usually batted at three though?

[ioppolo]

Where did Nathan Astle usually bat then?

[Caesar]

Glenn Turner went alright.

[Plugger35]

Patel is a terrible cricketer.

Patel's three wickets in the first innings, including Tendulkar and Laxman, would suggest you are a terrible judge of cricketers.

NZ is hardly awash with options.

Although their middle order with Ryder Taylor Williamson looks pretty solid for the future. Cannot remember NZ ever having decent opening batsmen however (maybe Richardson), they are constantly 2-not many.

John Wright and Bruce Edgar went alright.

[Cotchin 9]

Hopefully Baz can go big here, would be a real boost for the Kiwis.

[Plugger35]

Good recovery from McCullum and Taylor, still a long way to go to get up to India's total though.

Can really only be an Indian win or a draw now.

[Cooldude]

For a batsmen with all the talent in the world, Ross Taylor always gets out in some soft manner

[Plugger35]

For a batsmen with all the talent in the world, Ross Taylor always gets out in some soft manner

Yeah that's the frustrating thing about Taylor, he can look like a million dollars but then will get himself out with a stupid shot.

That's the problem with most of NZ's top order, they can get starts and make fifties but struggle to go on and score big hundreds.

Both Ryder and Williamson past fifty now, hopefully one or both can go on to score a ton.

[Bomber Bears]

Ryder got his ton (also 1000 runs in his 12th test) then got out two balls later, williamson on i think 89.

[Cotchin 9]

Well done to Ryder, hopefully he can keep his head straight and end up an all time great NZ cricketer, averaging 50 odd at the moment.

Nice debut innings so far from Williamson, ton up son :thumbsu:.

[PTizzle]

Good fightback from the Kiwis yesterday, shame Ryder went out (was it the last delivery of the day?) but if they can hold steady they should be able to get the draw.

Great to see Williamson starting well, I've heard good things about him and he deserves the ton, hope he brings it up and keeps on keeping on.

[Plugger35]

Good to see Ryder get his ton, shame he got out straight after though. Would be nice to see Williamson get a ton on debut too.

NZ have the makings of a pretty good middle order with Taylor, Ryder and Williamson.

You'd think a draw is the favoured result now. The pitch sounds like a road.

[saint_larry]

williamson, 1 match, a cool 109 runs and counting.
chris martin, a cool 89 runs from his 57 matches :D.
kiwi batting lien up is looking better now, but bowling attack would probably be one of the worst in the world.

[BACCS]

I can see why some on here were so praising of Williamson, a century on debut against a quality side like India aint bad at all.:thumbsu:

[sherb]

5/402, Williamson 126, Vettori 31.

The latter being a fine player to have coming in at number 7 these days.

[Cousin Jed]

This is not a test match quality pitch I am afraid.

[sherb]

Vettori 4000 test runs.

[Plugger35]

Williamson out for 131, not a bad test debut.

NZ still a chance of going past India's total, not that it really matters as the match will end in a draw anyway.

[glenferry23]

Vettori 4000 test runs.

to go with his 300 test match wickets....only the greats kapil dev & ian botham have done this....vettori in a very exclusive group now, well done to him he's been an outstanding cricketer and leader for nz for some time now :thumbsu:

[PTizzle]

Haha, wow, Martin gets Gambhir in the first over and Vettori gets Sehwag in the second over. India 2/1 as of now. Game is well and truly on.

[TimeIsRunningOut]

And Dravid now caught behind. WTF?

[Cousin Jed]

7/44 in an entire session.

[Bradesmaen]

Wowsers. Go NZ?

[Grimwood]

Shame that neither Bennett nor Ryder are fit to bowl.

[PTizzle]

This is genuinely exciting. I chuckled at this comment on Cricinfo as well:

"Jerremy Sparrow: "Martin made more runs in his innings than Gambhir, Sehwag and Dravid combined have made in this innings. Legend!" "

[Cleavy]

Shame that neither Bennett nor Ryder are fit to bowl.

what's wrong with Ryder?

[amer]

Haha, this is awesome. Go you black caps!

[Cotchin 9]

Daniel Vettori; He's a colossus isn't he?

[legend166]

Woooooooooooooooooow.

[Juddy88]

NZ pace attack > Aus pace attack

[PTizzle]

Haha Martin! Seeya Tendulkar.

Gambhir, Dravid and Sachin in one spell - this is one to tell the grandkids.

[glenferry23]

wow....sensational stuff here from the kiwis

EDIT: and another one!! raina gone now too....NZ and Martin on fire!

[Bomber Bears]

sheet!

[Escobar123]

This is madness!

[Cotchin 9]

Evergreen Chris Martin.

[amer]

This would be one of the greatest results ever if they could pull it off. You always feel like India will find a way to etch enough runs to get themselves out of trouble in these situations at home, but you never know! Finish 'em Martin.

[Bomber Bears]

5/15 Martin gets Raina, **** me dead!

[sherb]

Chris Martin = A joke. His jump in his delivery stride seems to labour his approach and hinder his momentum.
Gambhir c Hopkins b Martin 0
Dravid c Hopkins b Martin 1
Tendulkar b Martin 12
Raina c Taylor b Martin 0

Martin 5.1/4/10/4

He's no world beater, I agree, but he's been a great workhorse for NZ.

[krisholio14]

Jesus, 5/15 - The Phantom 4/10 :eek:

[Escobar123]

I thought Martin was supposed to be crap?

[Roobunny]

Absolutely awesome. :D

[Bradesmaen]

Martin for PM.

[TimeIsRunningOut]

http://i53.tinypic.com/aetibk.jpg

[Plugger35]

Amazing colllapse from India, thought it was almost certain to be a draw but NZ in with a real chance of winning now.

Martin the destroyer with 4/12 just when most people thought he was a spent force.

[Bomber Bears]

Amazing colllapse from India, thought it was almost certain to be a draw but NZ in with a real chance of winning now.

Martin the destroyer with 4/12 just when most people thought he was a spent force.Good on him, hardly a wrold beater but a very solid servant to NZ cricket for a decade nearing the end of his career (probably would've been ended for him if not for NZ complete lack of decent bowlers), good to see.

As someone with some Kiwi relations i'll claim this victory!

[Cooldude]

This might show how bad the Aussies actuallya re

[Cotchin 9]

Good on him, hardly a wrold beater but a very solid servant to NZ cricket for a decade nearing the end of his career (probably would've been ended for him if not for NZ complete lack of decent bowlers), good to see.

As someone with some Kiwi relations i'll claim this victory!

You wrote him off pal. :thumbsd:

[whats_at_stake]

This is what Test cricket is all about. You can never get this amazing pressure, flow and intensity from the other formats.

Massive collapse. India seems to be collapsing fairly regularly and seem to lose a chunk of wickets.

Can Laxman once again be the hero?

Too bad I do not have Fox Sports, would love to watch this game- will look into heading to TAB tomorrow night if it gets close.

[Bomber Bears]

You wrote him off pal. :thumbsd:
I know, when bowlers are 35 and average 48 or something over the year proceeding you tend to think they might be done, but he's putting in a stellar performance

[Caesar]

Sweet. I'm going to the pub to watch this.

[Indian_Hotdog]

What a spell by Martin.Have to say , this puts the aussie bowlers in perspective.

[Santana]

Still trolling Australia when your sides 5 for 40 against NZ at home? I'll give you some credit there I guess.

[Cotchin 9]

I'll be livid if India save this test or somehow manage to win.

[jackster83]

It'd be great to see the Kiwi's win this. It would be one hell of an upset, and would release a fair weight off Vettori's shoulders after the embarrassment of the Bangladesh debacle.

[amer]

India won't lose.

Well, maybe that's a risky call, but don't underestimate how tough it's going to be to break this partnership. ****ing Laxburger.

[eddiesmith]

NZ are no hope, its why they lose to teams like Bangladesh, they can never finish off a match, if you went through NZs series you would always find a game or 2 where they were on top and threw it all away

[Cooldude]

Lol, Dhoni the specialist keeper? Certainly haven't scored runs for a long time...

[legend166]

Dhoni gone.

NZ need to be chasing less than 130. Otherwise I think India will win.

[Bomber Bears]

Martin gets Donhi in his second over back, 6/65

[eddiesmith]

Lol, Dhoni the specialist keeper? Certainly haven't scored runs for a long time...
9 innings since his last century...

[amer]

Voodoo worked. Laxative still there though.

[Cooldude]

9 innings since his last century...

Yeah, nearly a year ago, thanks for confirming it for me

[Bomber Bears]

he's only really had poor series vs Australia and this test.

[eddiesmith]

Still averaging about 40 for his last 10 innings

[Cooldude]

Well of course it'd be brought up to 40 when you include the century which is right on the 10th inning. Would be much less without it

Plus can't remember him doing a lot in ODIs for a while as well

Just doesn't look the same as he was last year, always look like getting out nowadays

[Bomber Bears]

Meh, players go in and out of form all the time

[DT_fanatic]

Doesn't seem like a minefield or anything. India probably need 200 to defend. Atleast it won't be a draw.

[DT_fanatic]

Also, despite being an Indian supporter, its good to see Dan get some support from his bowlers for once. Well one of them, which is still more than the usual.

[eddiesmith]

Doesn't seem like a minefield or anything. India probably need 200 to defend. Atleast it won't be a draw.
Draw still very much an option, Dhoni wont give them less than 200 so no guarantees of NZ chasing that in less than 2 sessions

[Cooldude]

Just putting it out there for some discussion. Dhoni's T20 form has been incredible in contrast, so dunno whether the shortest form of the game has affected his form in the other forms

[BACCS]

Damn, that spell by Martin must have been impressive, 5/25 off 13 aint bad.

[DT_fanatic]

Draw still very much an option, Dhoni wont give them less than 200 so no guarantees of NZ chasing that in less than 2 sessions

I'm not too confident of India getting that much, hopefully I'm wrong, esp with VVS still there. I see NZ chasing around 160 in 2 and a bit sessions on a 5th day pitch. Should be interesting.

[jackster83]

Well of course it'd be brought up to 40 when you include the century which is right on the 10th inning. Would be much less without it

Plus can't remember him doing a lot in ODIs for a while as well

Just doesn't look the same as he was last year, always look like getting out nowadays
He's never scored runs against anyone decent. Plunderer of shit attacks. Just like Yuvraj.

Fine captain but as a batsman, he is very mediocre.

[jk20]

What's with McCullem opening in the Tests these days?

[Bomber Bears]

NZ needed batsmen, so he gave up the gloves to concentrate on the bat, which should see his record improve