India vs. New Zealand, Final Videocon Tri-Series, Harare

New Zealand's supreme confidence overwhelmed a fragile Indian team in the Final of the Videocon Tri-Series. India did not choke this time, but lacked the self belief to win and from a dominating position they just didn't know how to finish it off.

India won the toss and Ganguly, knowing India's ability to collapse while chasing, wisely decided to bat first. Ganguly is a brave man, and he survived Bond with more luck than pluck, and chose to attack Kyle Mills. He stepped out and lofted Mills over cover for boundaries. Meanwhile Sehwag played Bond cautiously, but he slaked his boundary thirst with two slightly off target deliveries. He was brutal on both Oram and Mills and kept dispatching the ball to the boundary in the arc between point and third man. It was quite incredible as he kept up the barrage even as Fleming added more fielders to the region. India had its best start of the series, and even after Ganguly fell, Kaif stepped in and played the ideal number three role, accumulating runs without a dip in the scoring rate. He displayed his entire gamut of strokeplay, but the most pleasing ones were his on drives.

India were scoring at more than 6 an over and reached 150 in the 25th over, but that was the beginning of the slide due to an excellent spell from Daniel Vettori. He claimed Sehwag and Dravid in quick succession, as both batsmen were deceived. Sehwag was deceived in flight and lobbed a simple catch to cover and Dravid was dismissed by a beautiful arm ball. 10 overs and 2 wickets for 35 runs. It was a remarkable performance by the spinner who at this moment has got to be the best left arm slow bowler in the business. Vettori pretty much brought New Zealand back into the game. India's lower middle order could not accelerate at the end and this was epitomized by the selection of Harbhajan as the Supersub and not Nehra. Nehra came out to bat in the last over and immediately showed his daftness with the bat by swinging the ball down fine leg's throat with 4 balls left and Mohammad Kaif batting on 92 at the other end. Harbhajan sat in the pavilion! If one of the main bowlers was going to be the SuperSub, it should have been Nehra. It is a minor point, but every tiny detail is important in a Final. If not for Kaif's cool head, India wouldn't even have gotten past 250.

A total of 276 is not a trivial chase, but the New Zealand openers started out with a planned assault on the two Indian left armers and Fleming took particular pleasure in tearing into Pathan with five boundaries in one over. Without assistance from the conditions the Indians did not have a plan B, and all three front line seam bowlers were contemptuously treated. There are a few players who seem to revel under pressure and save the best for the big occassion, and Sehwag is undoubtedly one of them. After bowling half trackers throughout the series, he came up with a great spell in the Final. His flight and spin snared 3 wickets, and he along with Harbhajan slowed the galloping Kiwi run rate. It was strange that Sehwag got the wickets while India's star off spinner couldn't. Astle played Harbhajan with extra care and made sure that Bhajji didn't get any wickets. This probably was the single most important reason why India couldn't win.

In the end India dropped catches as Lou Vincent rode his luck to blast a few boundaries in his inimitable style. Astle also opened out to reach his hundred with a six and the two brought about a quick end to the match. Raina was one of the fielders who dropped a catch, and he is one of the players I have touted in this blog as a great fielder. Dravid missed one that went right through his hands and he must be wondering if he has to get some prescription lenses to correct his vision because he also got bowled 4 times in this series. But, Dravid is the hardest working player in this Indian team, and if anybody can come out of a bad patch soon, it is he.

After the match Ganguly admitted that India must be lacking something, since they lose finals from good positions too. He has been a frank captain, and maybe this is the first step to change. One remembers Allan Border similarly questioning his team's mental ability after losing a Test match to a Walsh and Ambrose inspired West Indies by one run. It was after that series that Australia started their domination of world cricket under Mark Taylor. To win, one has to first believe they can win and India sorely lack that belief right now. They need some luck and they need some belief too, and we might yet be able to see victories in a Final.