New Zealand got it just Wright

Of the two Test matches New Zealand have won on Indian soil since they first set foot on these shores in 1955 the last one came in 1988 ndash at Wankhede Stadium the venue of tomorrowrsquos second and final TestIndeed 33 years is a long time since the John Wrightled Kiwis beat Dilip Vengsarkarrsquos India by 136 runs on the morning of November 29 1988 To illustrate how long Current captain Virat Kohli was just 24 days old in the world that day His opposite number Kane Williamson was not even born and Sachin Tendulkar had yet to play firstclass cricketNew Zealandrsquos 1988 Test victory came after a loss in the opening Test at Bangalore where 12 from the 15man squad according to Sportsworld magazine suffered from a mystery virus at some stage of the match Captainturnedcommentator Jeremy Coney and television journalist Ken Nicholson came on as substitute fielders Those 12 included Richard Hadlee whose 374th wicket made him the highest wickertaker in Test cricket at the Chinnaswamy Stadium where New Zealand lost by 172 runsAfter going past England legend Ian Bothamrsquos tally of 373 Hadlee starred in the next Test at Mumbai with 10 wickets and he ensured the effort was not in vain But I dare say the bigger star turned out to be offspinner John Bracewell a former gravedigger whose eight wickets in the match included a decisive second innings spell of 651 which helped bowl out India for 145 Bracewellrsquos innings of 52 and 32 were worth their weight in gold in a match where only two other New Zealand batsmen had 50plus scores Praise apportioned for his 76run ninth wicket stand with Danny Morrison was thoroughly deserving as the visitors reached 234 in their first innings Had it not been for their alliance New Zealand wouldnrsquot have got too many from 1588Wright revealed in his autobiography that somebody asked Morrison what Bracewell and he were discussing when they were slugging it out against the likes of Narendra Hirwani and Arshad Ayub on a turning pitch The answer was whether to have lamb or goat curry for dinnerIndiarsquos response couldnrsquot go beyond 234 built on Krishnamachari Srikkanthrsquos 94 Vengsarkar playing in his 100th Test progressed to 25 and his thirdwicket stand with Srikkanth reached 100 when he tried to clear the midwicket fielder off Bracewell The captain was caught by Tony Blain and Vengsarkar was not coy to tell reporters that he played a ldquorubbish shotrdquoAndrew Jones topscored for New Zealand in the second innings with 78 with wicketkeeper Ian Smith smashing 54 off 96 balls Day Four saw India being set a target of 282 They ended that Sunday with 137 for 7 with Bracewell sending back Sidhu 14 Vengsarkar 0 Mohammed Azharuddin 21 and the aggressive Kapil Dev 36 off 37 balls while Hadlee accounted for openers Srikkanth 0 and Arun Lal 47 as well as Ravi Shastri 6 A rest day followed and only the fear of rain could dampen Wrightrsquos excitement Tuesday was nice and sunny and India could add only eight to their overnight score to give New Zealand their first Test win in India after Nagpur in 1969 It was all over in 20 minutes Kiran More told me yesterday that he could never forget how well Bracewell bowled in that Test and the bounce he extracted ldquoThe ball that got me out brushed my thigh pad before hitting the stumpsrdquo he saidWright who called it the greatest game he figured in wrote ldquoA lot of guys had contributed Danny Morrison took part in that vital stand and bowled well loosening up Kapil with the short stuff on the fourth afternoon Jones Mark Greatbatch and Ian Smith had batted well therersquod been some great catches and help off the field from Sneds Martin Snedden and Evan Gray Then there was Paddles Hadleersquos nickname with his 10 wickets But in the end it was Bracewellrsquos match If the side had been picked purely on performance on tour Gray wouldrsquove played ahead of him but we knew what Braces could dordquoWhen his side was in adversity 1105 on Day One despite winning the toss Wright revealed to me a conversation he had with team coach Bob Cunis ldquoHe said lsquoHow do you fancy Christmas in Rarotonga tropical islandrsquo I said lsquoWhat the hell are you talking aboutrsquo and he said lsquoWell if we lose this one you and I wonrsquot be going back to New Zealand for Christmasrsquo Thankfully we did eventually win that Test It was a tremendous game of cricket from both sides and I will never forget how sporting and generous the India players were after our victory My good mate Kiran More said lsquoWell played today ladsrsquo as three to four of us Kiwis went up our hotel lift It was a great series played in a great spirit and Wankhede has been my favourite venue ever sincerdquo Wright got down to writing his autobiography and he titled it Christmas in Rarotongamiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper