Indisciplined...

If you needed a clue as to why New Zealand's test performances have gone from bad to worse..


49.2 Ryder to Dravid, no run, 119.2 kph, dropped by Hopkins! Slight movement away, with the shine, Dravid pushes at it away from his body, gets a bottom edge, but Hopkins - standing up to the stumps - can't hold on

55.4 Patel to Sehwag, no run, 84.2 kph, dropped or saved his face? Sehwag drills this back at Patel who gets the hands in front of his face but never really looked like catching it.

65.1 Williamson to Sehwag, 1 run, 79.6 kph, dropped. Can you believe it? It is Guptill, the substitute, at midwicket. Sehwag top-edges a slog sweep, Guptill comes in from the deep, gets under it with a slide, and then lets it slip right through

73.5 Patel to Dravid, no run, 78.8 kph, dropped, and this is becoming a nightmare for NZ. Darvid looks to manufacture a cut shot to a length delivery, around off, and gets a thin edge that
doesn't stay in the gloves.


These aren't lapses a limited attack can afford against the best batting lineup there is. Add to this the fact that the bowling simply leaked boundaries - there were 45 4s and 6s conceded, which makes it one boundary every two overs. Where are the high standards of ground fielding, the accuracy and efficiency that NZ is usually associated with?

I also think they got the selections wrong. Considering Tim Southee and the probing Brent Arnel were the best bowlers against Australia, it was a strange decision to hand Bennett a debut. As for Jeetan Patel, I thought the world might have learned something from Nathan Hauritz's encounters with Indian batsmen during the last test series.

I'm not saying Southee and Arnel would've made a huge difference, but I doubt they would've handed runs to India on a platter either. Then again, there's little you can do when Sehwag decides to take matters into his own hands.

I wonder how the pitch will play tomorrow. Dileep has noted dark patches appearing on it already, and feels that India won't need to bat beyond tea tomorrow (for the remainder of the game). Looks like a fair call.