New Zealand's tactical sharpness reaps rich dividends

The curator in Nagpur, Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, said, had advised the side that the pitch for their match against India was "hard and fast" and was going to have "lots of bounce". Hesson and Kane Williamson's response was to leave out Tim Southee and Trent Boult, and go in with three spinners. New Zealand scored just 126, but their spinners took nine Indian wickets for just 44 runs on a raging turner. "I didn't see the groundsman after the match, no," Hesson said in Mohali, where New Zealand will play Pakistan on Tuesday.

New Zealand now have a foot in the semi-finals, and the biggest story behind their success has been how well they have read the conditions, and how well they have selected their XIs. Hesson is believed to be a significant factor in tactical decisions.

Apart from leaving out Southee and Boult in the first match, New Zealand made a last-minute change in Dharamsala, bringing in future Man-of-the-Match Mitchell McClenaghan in place of Nathan McCullum, who had given their defence against India a great start with Shikhar Dhawan's wicket in the first over. Dharamsala then turned out to be a pitch where seamers banging in cutters in the middle of the pitch proved near impossible to hit. That just happens to be McClenaghan's length. It becomes all the more incredible because they didn't even take a look at that pitch until a couple of hours ahead of the match because of the rain on the day before it.

There is an Indian ad campaign of soft drink Sprite, which says, "Dikhawon pe mat jao, apni akal lagao." ["Don't go by what is shown to you, use your own brain."] The New Zealand players who play a lot of IPL must have relayed the mantra to Hesson.

"We look at a lot of footage and stats, and talk to a lot of people, but then ultimately you look at the surface and make your own assessment what you expect it to be," Hesson said. "Thankfully, we have a lot of players who have played IPL. So we gather all the information we can, and pick up a team that suits the condition as well as the opposition."

It is one thing to pick an XI, but they have to respond well too. In Nagpur, Mitchell Santner saw Ravindra Jadeja bowl fast and flat and draw a lot of turn. He did the same, and took four wickets. In Dharamsala, McClenaghan knew in the second over of the match, which Shane Watson bowled, what lengths to bowl. He spoke to Southee and Boult and McCullum, after the second over, and figured he had to bowl cutters halfway down the pitch.

The other aspect of this decision-making is to manage those who have been left out. Players of the stature of Southee and Boult. McCullum after an analysis of 3-0-15-2. "We are lucky to have a good group of people who are focussed on what the team needs," Hesson said. "Although there is no doubt there is a little bit of disappointment, but players understand that we are doing this to pick the best team. It's not that we like players more or less than others, we just are matter of fact about it. As I said we are lucky to have good people who understand that, and they could well get an opportunity throughout the tournament. If they do, the others players left out have to be equally supportive."

The batting has been equally selfless. Ross Taylor has been batting out of position, at No. 5, a move Hesson explained. "Our middle order has probably lacked a bit of power in the past, and we think here we need a bit more power at the top," he said. "Colin Munro and Corey [Anderson] provide that, and also provide a good left-right combination. Also we feel as the ball slows up we need a bit more experience through the middle. To have Ross, Grant [Elliott] and Luke Ronchi come out at key times in the game, that's where we think we need that experience."

From squad selection to team selection to execution by those XIs, everything has worked perfectly for New Zealand, but Hesson said they were not thinking of the knockouts yet. That might just be akin to what the Nagpur groundsman told Hesson.