Cricket: T20 wicket demanded test-type mentality

Martin Crowe.

It's a game that would have left Martin Crowe beaming from ear to ear.

Three Black Caps spinners leaving hosts India dizzy yesterday - a ploy Crowe used when he opened with spinner Dipak Patel in the 1992 ODI cup.

Few would have given New Zealand a chance of defending a paltry 127 runs yesterday. I certainly didn't.

What I did endorse was the decision to include three tweakers at the expense of tried-and-proven seamers in Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Co.

It was a day when any score in double figures would have added immensely to the cause despite India captain MS Dhoni's bat/pad stance of "we batted poorly".

Yes, India batsmen's dismissals were soft but that shouldn't detract from the ability of Kiwi trio Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum to stifle them.

In fact, one can argue the Nagpur strip played into the hands of the Black Caps. It was unlike any spinner-friendly wicket. If anything, it resembled the bounce and pace of inhospitable batting tracks in New Zealand.

Will India fans bay for the groundsmen's blood and will that influence the temperament of other tourney wickets?

The Nagpur strip demanded a test-type mentality of teasing balls for singles and doubles in a format manufactured to yield mandatory boundaries and mindless sixes.

Those who pushed and prodded rather than offer a soft grip left the field in smart time.

Taking the pace off the ball was the edict so you may well ask if it was necessary to include speed merchant Adam Milne.

Yes, is the simple answer because the two extreme paces will question and frustrate batsmen trying to settle in.

The challenge, wicket wise, is to stick to what works and not default to tradition.

How good is it to see captain Kane Williamson consulting Ross Taylor?