Cricket: Spotlight now on wayward bowlers

By RICHARD BOOCK

The spotlight will be trained squarely on the New Zealand bowlers tonight after a match-deciding lapse in the opening one-day cricket international against Sri Lanka.

New Zealand opened their account in the Coca-Cola Cup triangular tournament with a 16-run loss to the hosts following an erratic bowling performance which effectively gifted the opposition a total of 21 no balls and wides.

Not only did the extra runs provide a boost for Sri Lanka's batsmen, but the extra three-and-a-half overs also meant New Zealand were unable to get through the innings in the required time, leading to a one-over penalty when they began their reply.

While it would have been even worse had Sri Lanka been able to bat through their innings, as it happened they were bowled out for 220 in 48.5 overs and the prospect of further penalty overs was averted.

Captain Stephen Fleming seemed unaware of the overtime dangers as the innings wore on, and suggested afterwards that he had been surprised by the ruling.

"We pored over the rules and there are clearly different interpretations of them," he said.

New Zealand play India tonight in the second match of the tournament, and need to turn in a far more accurate effort with the ball if they are to repeat their success in last year's ICC Knockout Trophy final.

The John Wright-coached India side have not yet played in the Coca-Cola Cup tournament, but are coming off some recent success after beating the West Indies in the final of the Tri-Series in Zimbabwe, and knocking over the Sri Lankan A team in a warm-up game yesterday.

The absence of Sachin Tendulkar, who has a foot injury, not only leaves India a shade more vulnerable in the batting, but also a little leaner at the bowling crease.

The other key player missing from the Indian line-up is injured legspinner Anil Kumble, whose absence will leave their attack looking relatively anonymous.

Asked to bowl first against Sri Lanka, New Zealand took wickets at steady intervals, but could not stem the flow of wides and no balls, to their noticeable frustration.

The worst offenders were opening bowler Daryl Tuffey, who bowled four no balls and two wides, and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, who was called for four no balls and one wide, despite some John McEnroe-like protests.

Vettori, however, was easily New Zealand's most dangerous bowler, and again struck up a telling combination with Chris Harris to put the brakes on the Sri Lankan scoring through the middle of the innings.

In reply, New Zealand lost openers Nathan Astle and Mathew Sinclair to consecutive deliveries when the total was three, and received further setbacks when Fleming and Craig McMillan departed in the eighth and 12th overs respectively.

There was a period of consolidation from Lou Vincent (25), Chris Harris (48) and Adam Parore (51 not out).

But by that time Sri Lanka's spin bowlers were starting to take command on a helpful pitch, and New Zealand could not recover.

New Zealand (from): Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming (capt), Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Chris Harris, Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Grant Bradburn, James Franklin, Jacob Oram.

India (from): Sourav Gangly (capt), Amay Khurasiya, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Reetinder Sodhi, Sameer Dighe, Agit Agarkar, Virender Shewag, Asish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Debasish Mohanty, Rahul Sanghvi.