Cricket: Indians pick up first victory

By RICHARD BOOCK in Wellington

Stephen Fleming's hopes for a reality check were only partially met last night after India broke their touring drought with a desperate two-wicket win at Westpac Stadium.

Having spoken of his wish to see New Zealand put under more pressure in the lead-up to the World Cup, Fleming duly found himself in a thoroughly hopeless situation before almost pulling the game out of the fire.

Bowled out for 168 in just 42.4 overs, New Zealand were in the game for long periods of the chase before India's shell-shocked combination scrambled through to their first win of the series, reaching the target after a late rally from No 9 batsman Zaheer Khan.

Khan's three wickets in the space of nine balls and his highest one-day score of 34 from 42 balls was man-of-the-match material and ensured India would at least avoid the ignominy of a series whitewash

It was another one of those skittery batting efforts that India have been known for this summer, punctuated by a bad start, a couple of bizarre dismissals, some good periods from Virender Sehwag, and a match-winning innings from Yuvraj Singh.

Singh, one of the few players to show a gradual improvement since arriving in New Zealand, entered the fray in the 13th over and departed for 54 in the 41st, at a time when India needed just nine runs with two wickets in hand.

Before a better than expected crowd of 19,352, India's reply began dramatically when captain Sourav Ganguly fell to the first ball of the innings, conntinuing the remarkable record of Daryl Tuffey, who has now taken a wicket in his first over on five occasions this summer, and a dozen times in as many months.

Shane Bond produced a trademark yorker to send back Dinesh Mongia, but landed the biggest blow to India's chances when his appeal for leg-before against Sachin Tendulkar was upheld by umpire Billy Bowden in the sixth over.

It was a roughie, Tendulkar being hit outside the line and also getting an inside edge, and left India facing a depressingly familiar scenario and New Zealand with the scent of an unlikely fifth win.

If that wasn't bad enough for India, Anil Kumble was later deceived by a schoolyard long-hop from Adams, and in the resulting scramble hit his own wicket just as the ball bounced for a second time.

For all the team's success in the series to date, New Zealand's top-order batsmen stand accused of inconsistency, a concern that is unlikely to fade after possibly the worst start in the country's 419-game history.

Nathan Astle was trapped in front off the second ball of Khan's first over, Mathew Sinclair lost his stumps after shouldering arms to the second, and when Chris Harris followed two overs later, it was three for three and Fleming's wish had been granted.

There were pockets of resistance from Chris Cairns (25) and Scott Styris (13), and one genuinely promising seventh-wicket partnership of 48 between Brendon McCullum and Andre Adams, but the batting was generally unconvincing and will certainly remain the side's greatest concern.

Fleming, who became only the second player after Nathan Astle to reach the milestone of 5000 runs in limited-over cricket during his 41-ball 19, had been wanting to find out more about his team's decision-making under pressure, reasoning it was better to find out sooner rather than later.

He would have been left in two minds last night after New Zealand battled well to recover to 140 for six in the 32nd over, before blowing what should have been a total nearer the 220-230-mark.

Adams played the role of hero and villain, smoting 35 quick-fire runs, including three fours and three sixes, before throwing his wicket away when eight had already been clubbed off the over, and his partner was well established.

On an evening in which the already sidelined Jacob Oram was ruled out of the rest of the series with a fractured finger in his left hand, McCullum played one of his most important innings, milking 35 off 73 balls to give his side some hope.

For all that, the alarm bells must now be ringing over the top-order in general, considering that World Cup batsmen such as Harris, Sinclair, Fleming, Lou Vincent and Craig McMillan are all struggling to varying degrees and are leaving much of the work to the midde and lower order.