Batting woes for India and New Zealand
As India and New Zealand brace themselves for a face off against what is deemed as a crucial match of the tournament, batting worries and inconsistent performances are making a comeback to haunt both teams ahead of the encounter scheduled for 14.30 (0900 GMT) today. New Zealand annihilated the Indian side in their first match of the tournament where New Zealand went on to score a mammoth total of 290 while managing to bowl India out for a meagre 90 runs. India’s batting order which is renowned for its media hype has been outdone by the mavericks from New Zealand.
Despite having the dream first game of the tournament, the Kiwi’s were then defeated by Sri Lanka with 3 wickets remaining. India on the contrary made a remarkable comeback in their next match against Sri Lanka, where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 was denied a much deserved century. But most importantly, India won the match by 6 wickets. In their last outing against Sri Lanka, India had to suffer another embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka where their batting order collapsed completely with the exception of Yuvraj Singh who seemed to have found his form after recovering from dengue fever just recently.
The Indian’s were bundled up for a total of 103, which Sri Lanka managed to reach in just their 17th over with 8 wickets remaining. This marks serious worries for the team of MS Dhoni, and himself who’s captaincy record of winning every tournament in Sri Lanka is now in Jeopardy.
Ahead of India’s match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, Scott Styris is one person that the Indian team will have to watch out for following his run filled year that he has enjoyed. With 168 caps to his credit, his performances will be a serious morale booster for the Black Caps.
MS Dhoni has to respond to a lot of expectations, since the captain has failed to deliver in the tournament. The relatively inexperienced Indian batsmen in the middle order have found it hard to adjust to the seeming pitches of Dambulla and they are looking up to their captain to lead the team from the front.
Martin Guptill will be joining the New Zealand top order and he can prove to be a strong asset for the Black Caps. On the downside, Jacob Oram will have to miss the rest of the series following an injured knee that has not responded to treatment and was affecting his bowling considerably. A possible replacement could be left arm seamer Andy Mckay. However Oram’s absence is a definite setback for the Kiwis. Another concern for the side is the fitness of Kane Williamson who has a bicep injury and was having difficulties to bowl or throw on Monday.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dinesh-c54134 Karthik or Rohit Sharma.
A fresh pitch will be used for the match and according to MS Dhoni, who inspected the pitch during the net session of the Indian side, observed that the pitch will offer help to seam bowlers. In the day time, the ball will swing due to the overall breezy conditions and moisture in the pitch. The pitch tends to favour the bowlers under the lights.
Taylor on the contrary has shown a preference to chase if the weather is cloudy and there are chances of rain, since the D/L method will favour the side chasing. However, if the skies are clear, he would most certainly want to go out there and bat.
"It's just a game of cricket and every game you play to win, we don't want to put any more pressure on ourselves and that's the attitude we'll be going with." http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 said.
While http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 cited the flaw in their batting technique as the main issue that has led the team down.
"We just have to be careful not to fish at the ball. Rather we will have to just leave or play a shot." He stated.
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