New Zealand have big claws

India may be the team in form, but Vettori's men could well spoil their 20-20 party like they did the last time at the World T20 Cup in SA

New Zealand have big claws

India may be the team in form, but Vettori's men could well spoil their 20-20 party like they did the last time at the World T20 Cup in SA

India are the reigning World Twenty20 champions but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is aware that New Zealand will be no pushovers in the two Twenty20 games this week. The Men in Blue have a bitter first-hand experience of how dangerous the hosts can be in the shortest version of the game.

During their all-conquering ICC World Twenty20 Cup campaign in South Africa, India suffered only one defeat and it came against the Daniel Vettori-led Black Caps. It is the only T20 game played between the two sides.

Deadly troika
Lalchand Rajput, who handled the coaching responsibilities in South Africa, said you write off the Kiwis at your peril. "They are a very dangerous team. With players like (Jacob) Oram, (Brendon) McCullum and Vettori, they can match the best in T20. Oram and McCullum are two of the biggest hitters in the game, and, Vettori is a very cunning bowler and an astute skipper," Rajput told MiD DAY.

It's natural that Rajput chose the three names as the main threat to Dhoni's team. During the World T20 Cup game in September 2007 at Johannesburg, he had seen from the dugout how effective the trio could be on their day. Vettori was all over the Indians in batting, bowling and fielding to be the man of the match; opener McCullum laid the platform for his team's total with a typical belligerent knock of 45 off 31 balls; and Oram provided their innings the perfect finish with a 15-ball 35 at a strike rate of 233.33.

"It will not be easy for us, McCullum and Oram can take the game away from any team with their power hitting," said Rajput.

Vettori chipped in with 15 off five balls as New Zealand set India a target of 190 runs.

"We started off very well. In five overs we were around 75 for no loss as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tore apart their pace attack. Then, Vettori came on to bowl and he turned the game on its head. He took four wickets and the scoring rate dropped," recounted Rajput, whose team lost the momentum and ended up 10 runs short of the target. The Kiwi left-arm spinner picked up the wickets of Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik and Irfan Pathan for figures of 4-0-20-4 at an economy rate of 5.00. Vettori also took two catches and effected one run-out to be a clear man of the match.

Challenge
"Vettori is a tremendous player and to play him well will be India's main challenge in this series," observed Rajput. "Especially, if the wicket is soft he will be difficult to negotiate. He mixes it well; his deliveries have turn and bite."

From the lessons learnt from the defeat, Rajput's advice for tomorrow's game is: "We should plan the innings in such a way that our left-handers Yuvraj Singh and Gambhir are the ones who face him."

India will face a new-look New Zealand side in Christchurch tomorrow, but there is no doubt these three will figure high in Dhoni's gameplan for the game.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels