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National Bank Series Live Coverage nzcricket.co.nz
Last match:
  • 7th ODI: New Zealand v India at Hamilton

  • Likely Indian response leaves no room for error for Kiwis
    Lynn McConnell - 17 December 2002

    New Zealand won the first Test of the National Bank Series but left enough areas needing some attention that there would be no complacency going into the second Test starting in Hamilton on Thursday.

    TelstraClear Black Caps coach Denis Aberhart said today that he fully expected the Indians to come back hard at New Zealand.

    Although had they taken a look at the pitch at the ground they would have realised that they face more of the same, although possibly without quite the amount of sideways movement that occurred in Wellington.

    However, it is the New Zealanders who have to up their game.

    "We did the job required with the ball in the first innings and the catching was good in the second innings. I think if we look at the batting side of things we were disappointing and we know that.

    "I don't expect the Indians to fall over quite as easily as they did in the first Test match.

    "They're a quality side and we know we have got to be on top of our game and put the pressure on again here," he said.

    There were no grounds for complacency and he didn't think they would be a problem.

    While the side's plan had worked well, Aberhart said there was always room to be better. The bowlers had stuck to their plans pretty well and were bowling in the right areas to the batsmen.

    But he expected greater application from them in this Test with the bowlers staying in their specified target areas a lot longer than they did in the first Test.

    Aberhart didn't think the winning of the toss would be as crucial as it was in Wellington. The ground had a history of providing wins for teams whether they batted or bowled first.

    "We're not concerned which way we end up doing it," he said.

    "The pitch looks fine but two days out from the game I never take too much notice. I wait until the morning of the game because it can change so quickly over the two days. It has good grass cover and with a couple of days hard rolling it will certainly harden up.

    "We will need to show patience and that's one of the things our batsmen have got to do. We do have people in our batting line-up who are able to do that," he said.

    © CricInfo


    Teams India, New Zealand.
    Players/Umpires Denis Aberhart.
    Tours India in New Zealand