Watch Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 2nd T20 live streaming, 2009 live streaming.
Sri Lanka squad
KC Sangakkara, TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, DPMD Jayawardene, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, KS Lokuarachchi, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, RGMJM Rupasinghe, T Thushara, I Udana, ML Udawatte
New Zealand squad
DL Vettori*, SE Bond, NT Broom, IG Butler, BJ Diamanti, GD Elliott, MJ Guptill, BB McCullum†, NL McCullum, PD McGlashan†, KD Mills, JDP Oram, JS Patel, JD Ryder, LRPL Taylor
Watch Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 1st T20 live streaming, 2009 live streaming.
Sri Lanka squad
KC Sangakkara, TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, DPMD Jayawardene, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, KS Lokuarachchi, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, RGMJM Rupasinghe, T Thushara, I Udana, ML Udawatte
New Zealand squad
DL Vettori*, SE Bond, NT Broom, IG Butler, BJ Diamanti, GD Elliott, MJ Guptill, BB McCullum†, NL McCullum, PD McGlashan†, KD Mills, JDP Oram, JS Patel, JD Ryder, LRPL Taylor
"Day 3 belongs to NZ" read a felt-penned placard on the grassy embankment at McLean Park. Around those four words were 11 pink hearts, neatly and accurately cut out by some loving fan, with each of the New Zealand players' names loosely scribbled in the middle. It aptly summarised the third day's play for the home side - a wee bit ragged, a lot tidier, and full of spirit.
For the third day running, on a flat track, New Zealand stuck to their task and stayed in control of this Test. Threatening partnerships were broken shortly before the lunch and tea intervals, and they came out to polish off the rest of the Indian batting order in the final session. India's shot selection was questionable but there was no taking away from a dominant New Zealand, who rarely wavered in their lines and produced a sustained fightback. India failed to score even half of New Zealand's total. They lost their last four wickets for 35 runs after tea and a chuffed Daniel Vettori had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on.
To cap off an excellent day, New Zealand got rid of Virender Sehwag cheaply once again, though it owed more to bad batting than good bowling. Sehwag played another ugly heave across the line to Jeetan Patel and was hit on the back leg, in front of off stump. And for the second time in the day Rahul Dravid found himself batting for survival.
Laxman clanged Iain O'Brien for consecutive boundaries but soon steered an outswinger from Martin to the waiting slip cordon. Harbhajan Singh came in and threw his bat around for 18 from 11 balls, including one rollicking six off O'Brien over midwicket, but the bowler had the last laugh when Harbhajan eventually picked out deep square leg. A snorter of a catch by Ryder at gully accounted Zaheer Khan next ball and the Indian innings ended on 305. India had resisted, in bursts, but New Zealand fought back harder with a flurry of wickets.
Until Dravid's error, he and Laxman - the second most successful fifth-wicket pair in Test cricket - looked inseparable. After Sachin Tendulkar fell for 49, Dravid was joined by Laxman and they meshed impeccable technique with delicate drives that drew warm applause from a sparse crowd.
Two beautifully timed boundaries off Patel with trademark authority early on set the tone for a Laxman innings, highlighted by dainty footwork, crisp use of the wrists, and elegant shot selection. Laxman stayed true to his graceful nature as his innings progressed. He handled Vettori and Patel almost effortlessly and even their good deliveries were occasionally driven through cover with disregard. Post lunch, he caressed boundaries either side of the pitch and even afforded himself an aerial shot - not a heave, but a cocked-wrist flick - over midwicket off Patel. These shots took him through the twenties, so often a bogey phase for Laxman, and his half-century was not far away.
Taylor's power, his hitting technique, Greatbatch reckons, could have come from Kilikiti, the Samoan version of cricket. Kilikiti is played with a heavy rubber ball and a long three-sided bat, which makes it difficult to predict the direction of the hits. Taylor's mother was from Samoa.
There wasn't much cricket in Wairarapa though, and Taylor had to be taken away to Palmerston North where he studied in boarding school, whose headmaster had been there from Greatbatch's time. But his parents were not really well to do. "We had to find money for him to board at the school," Greatbatch says. "Money for his lodging and stuff. He had the money to go to school, but other things cost money. Myself, CD and some people around here used to do raffles for him."
Ryder, too, was spotted early by Greatbatch, during a club match. "I watched him get 260-odd when he was playing second-grade club cricket," Greatbatch says. "He was a boy playing like a man. Very skilful, but quite wild, and it is great to see him play at the highest level. This kid can be world class. You can see how at ease he is. He belongs there."
Ryder though, didn't have parents who were as supportive as Taylor's, who took five minutes to decide in favour of Ross going to a good school and playing cricket. The Ryder family was a troubled unit, and Jesse had to be on his own all the way. He studied in Napier Boys High School, which is not too far from McLean Park.
Greatbatch's association with Ryder wasn't a long one, but he thought it was perhaps best for Ryder to move on. "His talent is quite good but there were other things too," says Greatbatch. "So I told him he needed to go to some other place to sort things out. I didn't sack him but he made the decision. That was the best things that could have done. He went to live in Wellington, and played for them."
After just six matches together at the first-class level, Ryder moved to Wellington. But they would soon be reunited at Test level. Greatbatch had foreseen that long ago. Perhaps he had seen that during one of their big partnerships at Nelson Park.
"It is a lovely feeling to watch them play together," Greatbatch said. "When I first saw them, I thought that they will both play for New Zealand. They were pretty talented though that doesn't always get you there. You know - in different ways - they have got there."
Jeetan Patel is likely to come in for the disappointing Kyle Mills, who did his cause no favours with a lacklustre performance in Hamilton - 1 for 119 in 24.2 overs. Moreover, in two previous Tests in Napier, Mills' stats are equally mediocre - none for 128 in 44 overs. New Zealand also need to decide if Daniel Flynn has recovered from the bruising he suffered on his hand in the first Test. He practised despite a swollen hand on the eve of the Test, and a final call will only be taken after a comprehensive fitness Test on Thursday morning. If he fails to make the grade, Jamie How will take his place.
New Zealand (likely): 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Daniell Flynn/Jamie How, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Jesse Ryder, 6 James Franklin, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Jeetan Patel, 10 Iain O'Brien, 11 Chris Martin.
India will almost certainly play the team that won so convincingly in Hamilton. There were question-marks over the third seamer before that game, but Munaf Patel dispelled them emphatically with match figures of 5 for 120.
India (likely): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Munaf Patel.
Today, in scoring his third century, and the first as captain, he showed qualities that a top-order batsman would have been proud of. Soft hands were the first of them. Even when the fast bowlers induced edges, they fell short of the slips, much to the frustration of the bowler and fielders. That is where Vettori was different from the McIntoshes and the Guptills. Slowly he came to terms with the pitch, and started working his wrists around.
Vettori has the ability to shape up for a drive, and then use his wrists to direct the ball square on the off side, straight down the pitch, or into the on side. Three boundaries in three overs in the middle of the innings highlighted that ability. First, Munaf was driven wide of mid-on; in the next over he drove straight and again beat the same fielder. Then, he reached out for a drive against Harbhajan Singh, found the delivery too wide, and rolled the wrists on it, keeping the ball along the ground and beating the point fielder.
By the time Vettori had got out, he had scored a century that only vindicates his batting potential. But there was unfinished business for Ryder. A superb season so far needed a defining milestone, one that would confirm his coming of age. Ryder's century didn't come without drama. From 77 to 98 he moved in Iain O'Brien's company, and scored the next four in the unreliable company of Chris Martin.
He reached the century with a short-arm pull, with a spread-out field, showing how strong those wrists and forearms are. Today, along with Vettori, they carried New Zealand and kept them in the match.
The New Zealand board has declined an Indian broadcaster's request to start the Test in Hamilton at noon instead of the traditional 11am after discussions with the teams and match officials. Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (formerly Sony Entertainment Television) had approached New Zealand Cricket with the request as it wants to maximise its viewership in India. If the start had been pushed back, the Test would have begun at 4.30 am in India, as opposed to 3.30 am.
The starting times for the second and third Tests, to be played in Napier and Wellington, haven't been finalised yet.
While over the past two days in Hamilton, light has held well until 7 pm, which would have been the new scheduled close, the second and third days of the Test were expected to be cloudy. If any time had been lost to rain, it would have been difficult to make up for it in the evenings. Moreover, there was the small matter of the bowlers' wanting to use the early-morning freshness and moisture.
The idea of a later start didn't seem to sit well with the players. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's captain, said it would be a strange experience if the match were to start at noon. "It will be very different for us," Dhoni said. "Playing at night it seems like. Will go on till don't know what time. That will be definitely difficult. I have not played any Test that starts at 12. Definitely a bit of concern."
The other Tests in the New Zealand season, the ones against West Indies which were played in December (the middle of summer), had noon starts. And since the timings for the next two Tests have not been finalised, delayed starts remain a possibility.
Gary Kirsten, India's coach, has joined Virender Sehwag in saying that a warm-up game is not really necessary on a tour. India's 48-day tour of New Zealand doesn't include a tour game, and the schedule was criticised by former players.
"For me, it is a bit of a myth about having to go and have a warm-up game," Kirsten said. "It can work and it can't work. I, as an individual, couldn't stand warm-up games because the tour became that much longer."
India have been slow starters on tours, often turning out cold on the first day. But Sehwag said that there was no point wasting the good form on tour games. He has found a friend in his coach.
"I just believed that if I could get enough preparation, I was experienced enough in my own thinking to go straight into Test cricket after a few nets," Kirsten said. "But the general rule is that you have got to have a warm-up game. We have come on this tour, and we didn't have any warm-up games. Yes, one could argue that we were a bit under-cooked in the Twenty20 games.
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