da wazamba： India might even start off as favourites in their first Super Eights match against New Zealand at the Wanderers
da 888casino： The Preview by S Rajesh in Johannesburg15-Sep-2007
Peter Fulton could be the surprise package and his height an awkward factor,forcing the Indian bowlers to adjust their length © AFP
The first phase of the tournament is out of the way, taking with it fourteams which couldn’t make the cut. Phase Two starts on Sunday, and giventheir most recent performances, India might even start off as favouritesin their first Super Eights match against New Zealand at the Wanderers:India pulled off a nail-biter against Pakistan courtesy a bowl-out, while New Zealand weredrubbed by Sri Lanka.In such a short format, though, momentum counts for little. Both teamswill be aware of that, and also of trend of games at this ground. Theconditions have been loaded in favour of the batsmen so far, while theteam chasing has had much the better of the matches. Win the toss andfield will probably be the mantra, especially since the match will startat 10am in the morning.Bat play: Both teams have power hitters who could make the most ofthe flat pitch and the quick outfield here. Save for Robin Uthappa, the restof India’s top order failed badly against Pakistan, and will need to turnin a much-improved performance. They are unlikely to tinker too much withtheir batting line-up, giving Gautam Gambhir another chance at the top ofthe order with Virender Sehwag.New Zealand’s batting against Sri Lanka was patchy too, with only RossTaylor going on to make a significant contribution, but their top sevenare all powerful hitters, and if a few of them get stuck, India could haveplenty of work to do in the field. With the ball coming on to the bat and not doing much in the air or off the pitch, Bond’s pace leaves him vulnerable against the big hitters Wrecking ball: New Zealand have the better bowling attack on paper, butShane Bond, their spearhead, was taken to the cleaners on Saturday. Withthe ball coming on to the bat and not doing much in the air or off thepitch, Bond’s pace leaves him vulnerable against the big hitters. A fewnew-ball wickets from him, though, and India could be on the back footagain, like they were when Mohammad Asif struck in each of his four oversin Durban.The Indian attack bowled cannily at the Kingsmead, and the most impressiveaspect was the fact that Irfan Pathan seemed in excellent rhythm. He willbe tested much more in Johannesburg, though, as will all the bowlers.Harbhajan Singh’s accuracy in the last overs could be critical.Keep your eye on: Peter Fulton. He seemed to getting into hisstride when he fell against Sri Lanka. His ability to pack a punch withhis strokes isn’t in doubt, while his height could be an awkward factor,forcing the Indian bowlers to adjust their length.Shop talk: The Indians have made one change to the XII that wasselected against Pakistan, bringing in Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, forRohit Sharma. Lalchand Rajput, the Indian team manager, indicated that theteam had worked out specific plans for each of the New Zealand batsmen,while their own focus while batting would be to build partnerships.Vettori, the New Zealand captain, said it would ultimately boil down tohow well they played, not what the opposition did. “They [India] playedpretty well against Pakistan. They’ve got a good bowling attack and Ithink the openers will do a good job for them. But while we will scoutthem out and try to find a way to beat them, I think it all comes back toour own performance and we’ve got to lift that from what we did today.”Pitching it right: Expect another belter, and with the outfieldbeing so quick, spectators are likely to be treated to another deluge ofruns.TeamsIndia (from): Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir,Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), IrfanPathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, SreesanthNew Zealand (likely): Brendon McCullum(wk), Lou Vincent, Peter Fulton,Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Craig McMillan, Daniel Vettori(capt), Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin
