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The spotlight will go on New Zealand's bowlers when they tangle with India's blazing bats for the second time in Wellington tonight.
Having won the opening Twenty20 international by seven wickets in Christchurch on Wednesday, Dan Vettori's men get the chance to put a squeeze on the world champions in the shortest format of the international game.
While the batsmen did a solid job in chasing down 162, the bowlers had to bounce back from getting bounced out of the park early in the Indian innings.
Exhilarating strokeplay was mixed with some ordinary bowling at times, but India's tendency to go flat out led to a steady stream of wickets.
"We know how aggressive India are going to be, so we have got to be so precise to get through that initial onslaught," captain Vettori said.
"There will be huge expectations on our opening bowlers to get us off to a more precise start in Wellington."
As he watched Virendar Sehwag clout his first three balls of the tour into the stand off Tim Southee's opening over, Vettori admitted a fleeting thought: "It's the first time I've ever chased 300 in a Twenty20."
It didn't come to that as India self-destructed to a point along the way and New Zealand won well in the end.
They probably feel significantly better about their ability to foot it with India after Wednesday night, although reading too much into one three-hour slam is unwise.
Vettori expects India's philosophy in the one-day leg of the tour won't change from the opening match. They'll put the foot to the floor and keep it there; some days it will come off spectacularly; on others it won't.
"We know India have got very good players and it's up to us to back ourselves continually. They are going to put us under pressure the whole series."
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wasn't exactly ready to reach for the razor after a first-up loss.
"Every game is a learning lab for us," he said. "It's a young side and this tour will contribute a lot to this side."
After a world record 24 sixes at Christchurch - 13 by the tourists, 11 by the hosts - the crowd tonight will expect similar pyrotechnics. However, the bigger boundaries at the Westpac Stadium should mitigate that, although don't bet against the Indians, in particular, looking to give that mark a decent lash.
New Zealand will be tempted to stick with the same XI tonight but there is a case for including Central Districts left-armer Ewan Thompson.
He did well in his previous game against the West Indies and, as he won't be in the ODI squad to be named tomorrow, there's little point having him around if he's not going to be tried out.
As for India, who knows. They're not into dropping hints on the makeup of their squad. Dhoni admitted he prefers to say nothing until the toss on the composition of his side.
The curtain-raiser, New Zealand against Australian Masters, got a boost yesterday with Indian star Sachin Tendulkar confirmed in the New Zealand lineup for his first appearance on the tour. Teammate, and backup wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik will play for the Australian side.
