There were tell-tale signs that the wicket at the Rangiri Stadium wouldn't be a belter. The top layer of the 22-yard strip had been dressed up and worked upon after the Asia Cup held here in June.
The Indian batsmen, however, made it look like this was a pitch on which the ball had a mind of its own. In reality, it was a wicket on which runs could be scored if batsmen were sure-footed. The bounce was described as 'spongy' or 'tennis-ball like' which meant driving on the up wasn't a safe shot like on most pitches in the sub-continent.
Presented with a different challenge, one which required them to think on their feet, alter their game plan and force the bowlers to change their strategy, the Indian batsmen seemed to be found wanting. Those in the dressing room possibly turned a blind eye to the way their colleagues up the order got out and repeated the mistakes.
They played in the manner that has brought them runs on docile pitches in the sub-continent. There wasn't enough movement of the feet and bats hung out to balls that shaped away or bounced that little bit extra.
The tall and strong New Zealand pacemen used the extra bounce the wicket provided to put seeds of doubt in minds of the Indian batsmen. But there can be no reasonable excuse for being bowled out for just 88 in 29.3 overs. The 200-run defeat was India's biggest defeat against a New Zealand side and their fourth-worst ever in terms of runs.
Seven of the batsmen were caught in the slip cordon or by the wicketkeeper. Deliveries that were full in length or just short of length and just outside the off-stump led to the downfall of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. The short ball aimed at the rib cage dismissed Virender Sehwag. Sehwag had managed to eliminate this weakness but here he got his glove to the ball while trying to fend it to the leg-side and wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins held onto an easy catch.
Dinesh Karthik was probably the only top-order batsman who could be spared of scorn because replays showed that the leg-before decision shouldn't have been given. But Karthik had picked the wrong line and paid the price.
New Zealand were 28 for three in the seventh over of their innings after winning the toss and electing to bat first. In captain Ross Taylor and Scott Styris they found batsmen who were willing to apply themselves and dig the team out of a hole. They added 190 for the fourth wicket. India's best partnership was an opening stand of 39 between Sehwag and Karthik.
This is not the first time this team has been found wanting when they have played against medium-pacers who generate bounce or try and exploit their weakness -- the rising ball. It happened during the World T20 in England last year. Now, a hint of extra bounce forced them out of their comfort zone.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that the batsmen in the side should have applied themselves better after being bowled out for just 88. Ravindra Jadeja with 20 was the top scorer in the side, while Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Karthik were the only other batsmen to reach double figures in the 200-run loss.
"It was a bad day for us. Initially we got three wickets. After they got a partnership going, there were a couple of chances. Still, even if we would have got both (Scot) Styris and (Ross) Taylor, they would have got at least 200. And with the way they bowled, 200 would have been difficult to chase. I think we could have applied ourselves and batted a bit better," Dhoni said.
Dhoni tried to reason when asked about for the poor show with the bat. "They have really tall bowlers, who don't really bowl quick. Most of them were bowling at around 125-126 kmph. They had only one bowler (Andy McKay) who was bowling fairly quick. But by the time he came on to bowl, the job had already been done. I think toss was very crucial, especially on this track. If you see, we lost (Abhimanyu) Mithun in between. He got heat stroke. Maybe, had we got both the chances offered (Styris/ Taylor) the match could have turned around," the Indian captain added.
