Trust the New Zealanders to come up with something as wierd as Daniel Vettori as an opener. And that too in one of the important fixtures of the World Cup, and after losing their opening game to the Sri Lankans. Well, it seems one can expect anything from the Kiwis since it worked well for them way back in 1992 when they sent in Mark Greatbatch as an opener, and asked Deepak Patel, the off-spinner, to open the bowling attack. Till then, it was okay. This time around, I feel, they have crossed the limit. Nonetheless, it is intriguing and I sincerely hope this ploy works too, for there is a great element of surprise in this. As long as it works, it will be hailed as a great ploy. Going by the trend in this World Cup, the teams winning the toss have gone on to win matches so far. The wickets are playing well in the first half, but slowing down as the matches progressed. The batsmen batting in the second half have had to wait for the ball and use their wrists to play their shots. They will have to be careful while driving on the up. The wickets, however, should suit the batsmen from the sub-continent. The Kiwis bounced back brilliantly in their second game of the competition. They are suspect against spinners, for they found Murali too hot to handle just the other day. However, they showed tremendous depth in their batting today, and their lower middle order ultimately saved the day for them by putting up a fighting total, which looked impossible at one stage of their innings. Their fielding, too, was world class. They hardly gave away anything and they hit the stumps more often just when it was needed. Brian Lara’s run out, for instance, was a great piece of work indeed, and the catch to dismiss Ridley Jacobs was simply breathtaking. The partnership between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Ridley Jacobs gave the West Indians a glimmer of hope, which at the end of it remained only as a hope after they lost wickets in heaps. Nonetheless it was a spirited display by the duo. West Indies looked pretty sound when the going was good in the first game, but yesterday their limited attack was exposed when the Kiwi batsmen got after them at the death. Compared to West Indies, the Kiwis looked a better all-round team with five regular bowlers, some of whom can be easily considered in the all rounders’ category. With this win, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand have each won one and lost one. Interesting, isn’t it?
