The New Zealand cricket team's formula for anyone interested in destroying the famed Indian batting line-up is simple: measure 2 metres in socks, weigh 100kg and bounce the ball from just short of good length.
"You have to have that extra bounce in your armoury to make it difficult for Indian batsmen and keep them in two minds," said Daryl Tuffey, who has troubled the visitors with his bowling in the Test series and the first three one-dayers.
Tuffey gave away only 11 runs from his 10 overs and took two wickets including that of captain Sourav Ganguly to win the man-of-the-match award in the Christchurch one-dayer, which the hosts won by five wickets on Wednesday.
New Zealand's three-pronged pace attack, consisting of Tuffey, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills, has accounted for 19 Indian wickets in the three one-dayers at a little over 13 runs per wicket.
Sir Richard Hadlee, chairman of the New Zealand selection committee, said the physical presence of the three bowlers were playing no less a role in the Indian rout.
"These bowlers have physical presence. They are big, strong, intimidating to look at and, of course, they are getting the ball to bounce off a length," he said.
Tuffey said bowling along the wicket was not an accepted option these days.
"The Indian batsmen, for instance, can hit through the line so well. If the ball is not going sideways, they can take you on and hit reasonably good balls for four as we saw the other day (in the second ODI) with Virender Sehwag."
The three bowlers thrive on the one bouncer per over rule in one-day games and take every opportunity to make the Indians hop around in the crease.
"While the group did weight work during the off-season, it was not all about developing strength," said Oram.
"We do general strength work, but concentrate on some muscles that are specific to bowling like the shoulder. We do a lot more specific training rather than just work on our muscles," he said.
Mills spent most of last season recuperating from an injury that prevented him from playing the tri-series in Australia.
"It's not all about building strength, flexibility is the key," he said.
The Auckland player had some questions raised about his bowling action. But he worked on that and captain Stephen Fleming said on Wednesday he did not believe Mills had a suspect action.
"He has played enough one-dayers now, and is bowling well with good control," Fleming said.
Hadlee praised the bowlers for their consistency and maintaining the pressure on the Indians.
"You can have bowler-friendly conditions and not actually bowl well. You can bowl too short on them, for example. But our blokes consistently, day in and day out, particularly Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram, have been outstanding," he said.
"The key for any strike bowler is to beat batsmen off a length irrespective of whether the pitch is bouncing or keeping low.
"The bowlers have made a tremendous stride forward and that has to be good for our game. In the past we have struggled a little bit," Hadlee said.
The trio have not had a crack at Sachin Tendulkar in the one-day series as yet because he is nursing a twisted ankle.
Tendulkar may miss the fourth one-dayer on Saturday as well.
Television commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu said the Indians will have to tread carefully if they want to make a comeback in the seven-match series which they are trailing 0-3.
The Indians hardly appeared serious about the task at hand. After they arrived on Thursday afternoon, they promptly took a helicopter ride to soak in the beauty of Queenstown, a scenic holiday resort in southern New Zealand.
The fourth match of the series, the first cricket international ever to be staged in Queenstown, is absolutely vital for the Indians. Defeat means New Zealand would clinch the one-day series, in addition to the Tests, as well.
