05-Mar-2009 15:42:00 GMT
India in New Zealand, 2008/09New Zealand v India 2nd ODI, Wellington, March 06, 2009
Wellington: After winning the Napier one-dayer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men are now gearing up for the second one at Wellington where they face not only the challenge to maintain their winning momentum, but also to win at a ground that has been "exceptionally lucky" for New Zealand.
India can finally manage a smile after what have been a testing couple of weeks for them. Shrugging off their initial struggle, the Indians came out roaring at Napier with the batsmen leading the charge. The hosts, no doubt, would be plotting to avoid an encore.
Desperate to return to the fold, Ishant Sharma is making steady progress even as experts continue to caution Dhoni against straining him too much in the one-day series.
Who is India's No. 3 for ODIs? Gautam Gambhir? Only when Sachin Tendulkar plays. But wait a minute, didn't MS Dhoni feature at one-down in the Napier ODI with Tendulkar opening with Virender Sehwag? Gambhir didn't even get to bat then.
Suresh Raina would be a close guess, but he has done it only five times out of his past 11 matches, and on 15 occasions during his 61-match career.
India will rely on its high-octane batting to continue their winning ways as they go into the second One-day against New Zealand on Friday with injured pacer Ishant Sharma's fitness being the only concern.
India's batting, which had come a cropper in the T20s, revved up into top gear with Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and skipper MS Dhoni serving notice with half centuries in the first ODI at Napier.
New Zealand's hopes to level the one-day series against India in Wellington may have received a blow with doubts over Brendon McCullum's availability for the second one-dayer after he injured his right thumb yet again.
McCullum badly bruised his thumb, which he had previously fractured, when collecting the ball off the medium-pacer Grant Elliott. McCullum batted in the nets on Thursday and the captain Daniel Vettori was hopeful he would be able to open the innings.
If Brendon plays, Neil Broom is most likely to sit out the game. Vettori said while he hadn't discussed it with coach Andy Moles, Broom's omission would be the logical step. However Vettori said McCullum's absence would push Martin Guptill up the order to open with Jesse Ryder.
Highlights of the match
|
India |
New Zealand |
| Coach |
Gary Kirsten |
Andy Moles |
| ICC Ranking |
3 |
4 |
| Key Players |
Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer |
Taylor, Vettori, Oram, McCullum |
| Trivia & Stats |
Ishant Sharma back in team and an advantage for India at fast Westpac track. |
New Zealand have a good record at the Westpac Stadium, winning ten ODIs and losing five. They have won the last five contests at the ground. |
| Weather |
Chance of rain. Partly Cloudy. High: 21oC. Wind NE 32 km/h. Chance of precipitation 60% (water equivalent of 4.32 mm). |
| Pitch |
The wicket is supposed to be similar to the Twenty20 game - slow and not much seam movement on offer. |
| Current Form |
WWWLW |
WWLLNL (Recent last) |
| Head to head |
Total 76, India Won 37, New Zealnad won 35, NR 4 |
