Preview: India vs New Zealand, 5th ODI

After the demoralizing defeat in the fourth ODI, New Zealand must be left wondering what on earth they need to do to win an ODI. They did everything right for large parts of the last match - they batted well and posted a huge total, then they bowled well to take out the Indian top-order. However, the most astute captains and skillful bowlers cannot make plans for an assault of the kind Yusuf Pathan launched, and Vettori and co must have been left scratching their heads in searching for an answer on how to win an ODI. The series is lost, but New Zealand have now reached a stage where merely a win will be looked at as an achievement. When they last won an ODI, Mohammad Aamer was still the most exciting young talent world cricket had thrown up and the words 'spot-fixing' had not yet entered the everyday cricketing lexicon. Yes, that's how far back it was. Daniel Vettori will need to exhort his team to put the last ODI behind them, and New Zealand will doubtless tell themselves that innings of the kind Pathan played are not the stuff of everyday cricket, and if they play as well as they did in the fourth ODI, they can expect to win more often than not. However, they must expect more from their top order. They reached the total they did thanks to James Franklin, and he can't be expected to contribute in every match. The top-order batting for New Zealand, must therefore assume more responsibility and take the onus to put on big scores. New Zealand had dropped the talented young Kane Williamson for the previous ODI in favour of Jamie How, and maybe they would do well to reverse that decision here. Their bowling also needs to be tightened, though you can't blame the bowlers much when the tracks are flat as they are and the opposing batting line-up is as strong as India's is. India will be very upbeat going into the match, and confident of their chances of a 5-0 whitewash. A clean sweep would be the ideal way to not just prepare for the World Cup, but also send a message to other teams about India's strength at home. After all, they have won four games without the services of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni or Harbhajan. Moreover, Zaheer was absent in the first two ODIs, and an in-form Sreesanth has been rested for the next two. India is likely to go in unchanged from the side that played the fourth ODI, which means Saurabh Tiwary and Rohit Sharma may get one more chance to make claims for a more permanent slot. Yusuf Pathan, of course, has all but sealed his spot in India's World Cup side, which will make the competition for the few remaining spots all the more intense. Looking at the present strength of both teams, the most likely threat to avert a 5-0 sweep for India appears to be the Chennai weather. It has been unusually cold in Chennai with heavy rains. However, two days before the match the skies cleared up. The weather prediction is for scattered thunderstorms, and the Chennai fans will pray that they are scattered enough to not disrupt play.