Cricket: It's awful like Bangladesh again

The name of the main cricket venue at Vadodra is Reliance Stadium.

There was precious little to rely on with the Black Caps last night - unless you count a reliable sense of inevitability and ineptitude as New Zealand's senior batsmen again struggled in the one form of cricket at which they are supposed to be good.

One day international cricket is supposed to be a New Zealand strength but this was another awful batting display (apart from James Franklin, exempted with his 72 not out) which called to mind the horrors of Bangladesh.

Sent in by an India happily rotating players so they can rest others and seemingly unaffected as to quality, the Black Caps were definitely affected by quality.

Late last night, they were heading to an embarrassingly easy loss; gifting India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.

Many might have picked that score even before the ODI series began. What rankled was the manner of the mishap. This was no brave defiance against insurmountable odds. It was a surrender of limp and dismal proportions - by the senior batsmen anyway.

Opener Brendon McCullum, supposedly set to lift the side's batting strength and confidence after returning from injury, had exactly the opposite effect as he waggled at a Zaheer Khan delivery second ball and was neatly taken at second slip by Vijay.

It was a setback from which the top order never recovered.

Acting India captain Gautam Gambhir won a good toss and had the bowlers to exploit the conditions - although it was a bright, sunny day and a solid batting pitch which most observers thought would demand a score in the high 200s.

Khan's movement troubled all the Kiwi batsmen and he managed to make the ball duck both ways. Khan and Munaf Patel were the pick of the bowlers - but that wasn't really the story of the New Zealand batting effort.

Fellow opener Martin Guptill had time for one glorious six over midwicket before he was run out by a direct hit from Gambhir, with Guptill's running of the hello-hesitation-hurry variety.

Kane Williamson played steadily for his 21 but could well have been dismissed early in what seemed to be a decent shout for lbw off Khan.

The youngster has skill and will be soaking up the lessons here but he looked a little shaky at times - and it seems teams have already marked him out as a decent prospect for leg before.

Khan then had Ross Taylor caught behind, misjudging what seemed a good length, but otherwise innocuous, ball. Taylor had been digging in but defence turned into dash for a second - and Taylor disappeared for 4.

New Zealand were 34 for 3 off 11 overs and it could have been much worse had Scott Styris not survived an lbw shout off Khan which looked very out.

Styris and Williamson hung around until Patel trapped him lbw, with Williamson also misdirecting a drive at a good ball.

Styris survived a dropped catch in slips before he neatly turned a ball from offspinner Yusuf Pathan straight into the hands of leg slip - posted there for exactly that purpose.

Styris was one of those who criticised the Black Caps' play in the lamentable Bangladesh series. His 22 had more than a touch of luck. It could have been a duck.

The woe continued. Daniel Vettori, so often the steely backbone of this Black Caps team, played a dear little dink straight into the hands of slip Yuvraj Singh again - New Zealand 77 for five off 23 overs and in deep, deep, wholly deserved do.

Franklin was playing the barnacle and was forced to watch as Hopkins played exactly the same little tickle to the waiting leg trap as Styris, with Singh picking up another easy catch. Maybe Hopkins had been in the toilet for Styris's dismissal.

Maybe we should all hide in the toilet. Surely New Zealand cricket fans can't stand too much more of this stuff before they drift off to do something more enjoyable - like stapling their tongues to the bathroom cupboard.

At least Franklin showed some backbone with a patient knock, well supported by Nathan McCullum in a rearguard action.

'Rearguard' suggests a fightback. This was really all about survival and guiding the innings to somewhere approaching respectability; protecting the dignity of the loss.

There wasn't a lot of respectability to be found at Reliance Stadium. Unless you were Indian, of course.

Still and all, Franklin should be praised for his tenacity, a quality not much in evidence in this one day series. Unless you're Indian, of course.

It was a shame Franklin's innings contained so many, too many, dot balls early on - but he had no choice but to dig in and see out the 50 overs.

He stroked a delightful six in the closing stages to take New Zealand past 200 before McCullum's dismissal for 43 slowed what might have been a more punishing rush at the end.

There was much to admire in their stand of 94 runs, taking the innings to 224 for 9 after a few Kyle Mills flourishes at the end.

However, it was hard to escape the feeling that the Indians were simply making a game of it and/or giving some experience to spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin during that partnership.

India took seven off the first over, 36 off the first five, and 100 off 14 as Gambhir happily swatted away at the New Zealand attack with Murali Vijay playing the straight man.

Gambhir had a couple of heaves but most of his shots were clinical carpet-clingers as he coolly dispatched anything loose from Mills and Andy McKay (the latter guilty of bowling too much on Gambhir's legs). He brought up the 50 in only the seventh over.

Gambhir brought up his own 50 off 30 balls, with nine 4s; his century off 88 balls, with 13 fours.

At the end, Gambhir was unbeaten on 126; with Virat Kohli clubbing a six to end the match and make 63 not out off 70 balls.

The Kiwis bowled too short, too wide and did not produce the movement of Khan and Patel. But you couldn't blame the bowlers for this one.

Scoreboard

New Zealand
M Guptill run out 12
B McCullum c Vijay b Khan 0
K Williamson lbw b Patel 21
R Taylor c Saha b Khan 4
S Styris c Yuvraj b Ashwin 22
J Franklin not out 72
D Vettori c Yuvraj b Pathan 3
G Hopkins c Yuvraj b Pathan 6
N McCullum c Gambhir b Ashwin 43
K Mills run out 15

Extras (1b, 10lb, 15w) 26

Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 224

Fall: 2, 19, 34, 49, 77, 96, 106, 200, 224.

Bowling: Z Khan 8-2-31-2 (4w), A Nehra 8-1-38-0, M Patel 10-0-28-1 (3w), R Ashwin 9-1-49-2 (2w), Y Pathan, 8-0-27-2 (1w), R Jadeja 7-0-40-0 (1w).

India
M Vijay run out 30
G Gambhir not out 126
V Kohli not out 63

Extras (5lb, 5w) 10

Total (for 1 wkt, 39.3 overs) 229

Fall: 115.

Bowling: K Mills 6-0-39-0, A McKay 6.3-0-42-0 (5w), J Franklin 4-0-34-0, D Vettori 9-0-41-0, N McCullum 8-0-36-0, S Styris 6-0-32-0.