India ready for knockout punch

Fighting with their backs to the wall, the visitors will try to put a far more inspired performance in an effort to square the series at the Nehru Stadium, staging an international match after a gap of almost two years. The Kiwis have shown the tendency to choke under pressure in the last two one-dayers and barring opener Nathan Astle, none of the other batsmen have shown the desired consistency in the series, which the hosts lead 2-1.

The Indian batsmen, on theother hand, have been going great guns on the placid tracks and Tendulkar will be hoping that the top order fire on all cylinders again on the morrow to put their opponents under considerable pressure.

Although the Indian batting looks solid with Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Ajay Jadeja among runs, the bowling lacks experience with the senior players being rested ahead of the tough Australian tour.pWhile Ajit Agarkar, after his return to the team, bowled a tidy spell in the last match at Gwalior, Debashish Mohanty seemed to be a little rusty after being on the sidelines for long.

But the morning conditions at the Nehru Stadium here should help the pace bowlers who will be keen to exploit the early juice in the track before the batsmen start calling the shots. With the wily leg-spinner Anil Kumble also being rested for the last two matches, the relatively inexperienced Indian bowling attack will be put to test and Tendulkar will have to handle his resources well.

Uttar Pradesh all-rounderGyanendra Pandey, who has been inducted in the squad in place of Kumble, or left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi may come into the team for Kumble. Off spinner Nikhil Chopra was a trifle off colour in the first two ties, but put up a decent show in the last match.

The Kiwis managed to contain the Indians in the early stages in Gwalior with good line and length and it remains to be seen whether they can remove Tendulkar cheaply to put some pressure on the Indians.

Dravid, who has now shown that he is equally proficient in the shorter version of the game, Jadeja and Robin Singh have also shown their capability to wield the willow effectively and giving the team a respectable score even if there were some early jolts.

With captain Stephen Fleming struggling to get a big score in the series so far, the New Zealanders will be pinning their hopes on in-form batsman Astle to do the bulk of the scoring.

The lack of consistency of the other top order batsmen will be a worrying factor for the visitors who, despitegetting a solid foundation for the run- chase in the last match at Gwalior, buckled under pressure to lose the tie narrowly.

The injury to key player Dion Nash has come as a major set back for the Kiwis as the other bowlers have struggled to keep the formidable Indian batsmen on a leash on the docile tracks prepared for this series. The two teams, which flew in here yesterday, had a strenuous practice session here. Both will announce their playing XI tomorrow morning after having another close look at the tracks.

Teams
India (from): Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Saurav Ganguly, Devang Gandhi, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja, Vijay Bhardwaj, Robin Singh, MSK Prasad, Nikhil Chopra, Gyanendra Pandey, Ajit Agarkar, T. Kumaran, Sunil Joshi, Debashish Mohanty
New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), Craig Spearman, Nathan Astle, Roger Twose, Chris Cairns, Adam Parore, Chris Harris, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Shayne O’Connor, Chris Drum, Gary Stead, Mathew Horne
Umpires: DrSekhar Choudhury and S. K. Bansal. Third umpire: Francis Ggomes. Match referee: Ranjan Madugulle (Sri Lanka).

—PRESS TRUST OF INDIA