New Zealand will take a gambler's philosophy into the third and final test against India today.
They must win at the Basin Reserve to square the series and captain Dan Vettori confirmed yesterday that he would be prepared to take risks not normally associated with a test match.
"You have
to go in with that mentality,"
Vettori said. "A 1-1 series would be a great result for us. Any opportunity to win the test I think we have to take, and if that means putting ourselves under pressure with a loss I definitely think we have to go down that road."
Given a choice, Vettori reckons New Zealand must bowl first, try to knock India's vaunted batting lineup over early, pile on the runs on days two and three - traditionally the best for batting at the Basin - then work through India's second innings over the latter days.
That's all well and good in principle, but first the toss must be won then New Zealand will need to bowl out of their skins on a pitch whose appearance, to put it mildly, surprised Vettori yesterday.
He'd hoped for what he called a traditional Basin pitch, hard with green tinges, which gives the bowlers some help throughout while being good for batting and producing some inconsistent bounce late on.
Instead, he was confronted by a hard, brown strip which looks good for a packet of runs and is unlikely to break up late, ie, something to have the Indians smiling.
"I've never seen a Basin wicket like this in my life," Vettori said.
"That doesn't mean it's not a good test wicket, but I haven't seen it as own or dry as this before."
Groundsman Brett Sipthorpe didn't take umbrage at Vettori's comments.
"Captains always want something that can't be done at this time of the year," he said yesterday, pointing out the lack of intensity in the sun in April means less likelihood of the pitch wearing on the final two days.
"It's had a ton of rolling. It was ready two days ago."
Had he had any demands for a certain type of pitch?
"There always are, but you just produce the best wicket you can."
And is it a bat or bowl first pitch? "No comment," Sipthorpe laughed.
"I'm not going anywhere near that. That's up to the captains."
New Zealand are likely to omit second spinner Jeetan Patel, leaving a choice between experienced Kyle Mills or younger Northern Districts swing man Tim Southee for the third fast-medium spot.
Southee, unwanted in the test team since Australia in November, is likely to get the nod.
There have been questions raised over his penetration in later spells but this is the time to go for broke and Southee does get top-order batsmen out.
Vettori hopes for the same intensity from his bowlers that he got in the second test at Napier, when they did well to dismiss India first time round before being defeated by the McLean Park pitch over the last two days.
New Zealand's batting bared its teeth in Napier; this time it's the bowlers who will need to find another gear.
India are expected to welcome captain and talisman MS Dhoni back today. The wicketkeeper-batsman missed the Napier test with a back strain and yesterday was coy about whether he would be fit for five days.
He insisted India would look to win.
"Once you have the mindset of going for a draw, then you're not aggressive enough to win a test," he said.
And Dhoni was on the same page as Vettori, admitting to being "surprised" by the state of the pitch.
"I was expecting a green track," he said. "It looks nice so the bowlers will have a pretty hard job again."
NZ V INDIA
Basin Reserve, 11am, today
New Zealand (likely)
Dan Vettori (c)
Martin Guptill
Tim McIntosh
Daniel Flynn
Ross Taylor
Jesse Ryder
James Franklin
Brendon McCullum
Tim Southee
Iain O'Brien
Chris Martin
India (likely)
MS Dhoni (c)
Virendar Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Munaf Patel
Cricket: Gambler Vettori goes for broke
Young seamer Tim Southee will be hoping he gets the nod to join the Black Caps attack when the team to play India is picked. Photo / Richard Robinson
New Zealand will take a gambler's philosophy into the third and final test against India today.
They must win at the Basin Reserve to square the series and captain Dan Vettori confirmed yesterday that he would be prepared to take risks not normally associated with a test match.
"You have
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