Nash and Vettori put together a partnership of character
After winning the toss and inserting New Zealand on a wicket with a bit of moisture in it, Sourav Ganguly must have thought his decision was the right one. Despite a solid partnership for the second wicket that took the Kiwis to a healthy 85/1, the Indians managed to pull things back. Some tight bowling in the middle overs from the slower bowling managed to put the skids on New Zealand. The skipper himself had a role to play, scalping the wickets of Matthew Sinclair, Craig McMillan and Lou Vincent before ending with figures of 3/32. Yuvraj Singh bowling his left arm spin was in his element, accounting for the dangerous pair of Chris Harris and Adam Parore on the way to figures of 2/24 off 10 overs.
At 143/7 the Kiwis were in a serious spot of bother. Even on a wicket that is playing low and slow a total of less that 200 is unlikely to cause much trouble. With the pressure on, and the Indians bowling with their tails up, Dion Nash and Daniel Vettori came together. Although neither can be counted among the major batsmen of the New Zealand team, it is a known fact that neither is a mug with the bat. In Test cricket around the world both Vettori and Nash have made names for themselves occasionally wielding the willow with courage.
And it was courage that was required at the R Premadasa Stadium. Not perfect technique, not pleasing strokes, just the guts and gumption to stay out in the middle and take on the Indian bowling in a pressure situation. That is exactly what the pair brought to the New Zealand team.
In the absence of skipper Stephen Fleming, Nash's natural leadership skills came to the fore as he took charge of the rebuilding process. Despite playing and missing more than once, Nash never let the desperation creep in. Playing predominantly with a straight bat Nash patiently approached things. When there was a bit of width on either side of the wicket Nash was quick to capitalise. Reading the length of the ball early, Nash was able to work the ball away into the gaps with ease. All the while, Danny Vettori grew in confidence.
The left and right combination worked effectively for the Kiwis. The fielders were kept on their toes throughout what ended up being a 43 run association. Vettori's contribution to that stand was a well compiled 19 off 27 balls. The 39th over of the innings is a prime example of the kind of grit Vettori showed. A look at the ball by ball commentary on CricInfo shows the following:
38.3 Harbhajan Singh to Vettori, no run, rapped on the pads, Harbhajan Singh goes up with a big appeal, not out
Under a bit of pressure and tied up by the offie Vettori desperately needed to come back with a positive response. This is what happened, the very next ball:
38.4 Harbhajan Singh to Vettori, SIX, good response from Vettori! swings a ball from outside the off, high over mid-wicket for a massive six
In all this Nash was quietly accumulating the runs. When Vettori was finally dismissed by Virender Shewag, the New Zealand score was well on the way to respectability at 183/8. Nash went on to make 42.
For taking the Kiwi score to a competitive level, the Nash-Vettori partnership is CricInfo's 5 Star partnership.
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