Saturday, December 21, 2002 It was extraordinary cricket, with twenty-two wickets falling in the same day. But it's not such a bad pitch to explain such low scores. Runs are there if you occupy the crease.

I must apologize to Indian fans for saying that India were out of the series. Yesterday, I honestly thought so. But I couldn't believe that the New Zealand batsmen could bat as badly as they did today, in conditions more familiar to them.

I remember playing a few occasions on wickets of this nature. We are used to it here in New Zealand, particularly before Christmas when it rains, and likewise in March, when pitches can be very bowler-friendly. Richard Hadlee took a lot of wickets here in helpful conditions. But, as a batsman, you have to show resolve to survive such conditions.

It was frustrating to see the looseness of New Zealand's middle order, in particular Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle. They needed to bide their time. But today, they just didn't know how to spell the word `patience'. New Zealand should have had a lead of at least fifty.

By not setting a target nearer 200, India let New Zealand off the hook, because the Indian bowling attack finds it harder to keep pressure on at both ends.

In contrast, New Zealand bowlers hunt in packs. Daryl Tuffey has been getting wickets in his opening spell in his last five innings. With him bowling in tandem with Shane Bond and Jacob Oram to follow, it's a well-organized and orchestrated attack. They all bowl straight, look to hit the top of the off stump, get a bit of bounce and pace as well. It's an attack that's not easy to counter. You just have to wear it down.

Tuffey getting Sachin Tendulkar out was the most significant moment of the day. Tendulkar looked very good and dominant. Another half-hour of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid being together could have nailed New Zealand. If Tuffey and Bond had been seen off, Tendulkar would not have succumbed to second-string bowlers like Astle due to come on next.

Tendulkar played very straight and very late and that's the key to playing on such wickets. But when the tendency is to dominate a ball, you tend to go after the ball a little hard and the hands go away from the body. When that happens, you tend to close the face of the bat and that's what he did. He hadn't got to the ball, or more importantly, the ball hadn't got to him and he dragged it onto his stumps.

Tendulkar's great strength is to dominate the bowler. But sometimes, in conditions like these, it can be a weakness. It's all about occupying the crease for as long as you can, and more specifically, seeing off certain bowlers like Bond and Tuffey.

Parthiv Patel being sent to open was a good move to protect Virender Sehwag. Patel had shown that he could hang around. It nearly paid off, and India got a quickfire 25 from Sehwag. He had already taken 14 runs in the same over off Tuffy, and got out trying to play another shot. Sometimes, being greedy can lead to your downfall.

In a situation like that, to protect Sehwag, I thought India could have even done something really bizarre and sent Harbhajan Singh to open the batting. He has shown that he can be very unorthodox with the bat and using him to upset the opening bowlers could have been another ploy worth a try. Harbhajan in this innings showed more courage in getting behind the ball. But India did the right thing by sending Patel to open.

At the end of the day, India made all the right moves on the field. To get a side out for 94 after being bowled out for 99 was a superb job.

But you can expect New Zealand to have learnt from their mistakes in the first innings, even though once you fall into bad habits it's not easy getting out of them. Still, if I was a betting man, which I am not, I would say New Zealand will prevail tomorrow.

Martin Crowe is a former captain of New Zealand and one of the most technically accomplished batsmen of his time. From 1981 to 1994, he played 77 Tests and made 5444 Test runs with 17 hundreds. He will be giving his expert view on India's tour of New Zealand. He was talking to Raja M.

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