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Black Caps conquer the frontier

There was much talk about India wrapping up this series at Guwahati, but it may be that they do things a little differently up in the North East Frontier. They play on a multi-purpose ground that is contracted considerably with a ring of advertising hoardings, but that may be just as well as it means that it is harder to throw missiles at the visiting fieldsmen.

Thus, Roger Twose was spared more serious injury from such a missile and the knowledgeable crowd started leaving with only half the Indian side dismissed. But what a half! The big three were gone with 30 on the board and suddenly, New Zealand's dogged total of 236 looked as impassable as some of the nearby massive mountains.

Perhaps there were more comfortable conditions for the Kiwis, even with an 8.45 a.m. start. The temperature and the altitude made for more temperate surroundings, but the heat was on the New Zealanders when they were sent in to bat and soon found themselves 3 for 32. At this time it was the proven combination of Twose and Cairns that played the St Bernard in a manner reminiscent of their defeat of the Australians in the World Cup at Cardiff not so long ago.

Cairns played at his most disciplined. He kept his big strokes on a leash, but like a huge guard dog he displayed them every so often. He, Twose and Craig Spearman, who was tragically run out, produced strokes of such perfection even Tiger Woods would have been proud of them. They involved perfect footwork, head absolutely still, and straight and full swing of the bat to send the ball sailing majestically over the long-on boundary. These were signs of dominance that New Zealand applied to the full when India batted.

For only the unlikely Joshi played an innings of any consequence for India. This was because the big three were all dismissed in embryo by an opening attack by the Kiwis that was just that: attack. Chris Drum took retribution in his reward after taking some beatings previously. Cairns confirmed his majesty in this match with a return of 1 for 14 off five overs before retiring to rest a hamstring.

They were backed by a much more accurate New Zealand support performance with the ball. Vettori was given his full quota and deepened the mystery about his non-appearance at Gwalior. The others were straight and full of length, restricting the Indian batsmen to a mean allotment of singles when it was obvious to the frontiersmen looking on that mere singles would not suffice.

A feature of the match was the outstanding throwing on a ground that suffers from regular use by footballers, meaning that the surface was far from reliable. It did not stop Robin Singh and Chris Harris from throwing out two batsmen each and for the debutant Kumaran to reveal a superb outfield arm that accounted for Cairns in full flight.

It is amazing to think that Kumaran was playing for the Australian Cricket Academy in New Zealand only two weeks ago, and is now about to embark on a full scale Test tour of Australia. On the evidence of this match he will do well, for he bowled straight and full with a hint of inswing, attributes that may serve him well on tour.

It was a splendid win for New Zealand, for the odds on a recovery from 3 for 32, when more games have been won batting second at Guwahati, were long. It was down to dedicated batting by Twose and especially Cairns, whose maturity is now developed to a senior level amongst the world's best allrounders. It has set up a classic finale at New Delhi and hopefully, as at the frontier, the toss will not be all important.

(Gameplan)

Martin Crowe