New Zealand Cricket is bracing for a financial hit in their home series against Pakistan later this year, due to what NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan called a “residual impact” of the spot-fixing controversy.

Vaughan told the Dominion Post that while NZC’s earnings from television rights would not be affected, crowd figures and gate earnings could drop. “I can understand the public may not be quite as excited about Pakistan as they otherwise might have been,” Vaughan said. Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand, which is part of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, will be the only international series of the summer in the country and Vaughan said, “We’re kidding ourselves to think that there won’t be some residual impact out of all this, which is sad.”

Vaughan said the option of inviting teams other than Pakistan for the home series was not being contemplated. “To me the question will be in terms of the strength of the Pakistani team. We certainly haven’t looked at any other options in terms of touring teams”.

Pakistan’s six-week tour begins on Boxing Day and will comprise three Twenty20 internationals, two Tests and six ODIs. “New Zealand will be dead keen to make sure they play at their very best as it is the prelude to the World Cup,” Vaughan said.

A few Pakistan players were reported to be in talks with Wellington to play in New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 competition in December. Vaughan said NZC had no objections to any future singings by domestic associations, provided they were convinced that the players being signed were “appropriate”. “A blanket ban against Pakistan players doesn’t seem to be terribly fair As long as there doesn’t appear to be any reason not to allow them, then I think that’s fine.”

When asked about the ongoing inquiry against the three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – Vaughan said, “You’d need to understand the personal contexts around each of them, but I think there’s got to be pretty low tolerance; really lengthy bans, if not life bans”. The scandal had “put a dampener on the game. Cricket’s had body blows in the past and bounced back and I’m sure it’ll just bounce back from this.”

New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram has said that he is not yet ready to retire and is determined to play the 2011 World Cup despite another knee injury, which forced him out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka and also next month’s Champions League Twenty20. Oram said he was targeting the home series against Pakistan, which begins on Boxing Day, for a comeback.

“I’m looking at that [World Cup] as the carrot for me because I need something to keep me focused or I will probably slip into ‘woe is me’ mode and look at the ‘R’ word. I’m not ready for that yet,” Oram told the Dominion Post. “Obviously my body has gone past the hinting period – I think it’s yelling at me. But I’m pretty stubborn and I still have this big goal of going to the World Cup.

“If I miss the World Cup, then recover to a stage where I feel as good as I can, I may keep going. But it just may be one kick in the guts too many if I don’t make the World Cup.”

Oram’s latest setback – patella tendon damage – occurred in Dambulla, where New New Zealand were competing in a tri-series against Sri Lanka and India, and he had to fly home before the campaign was over. Oram had hoped the injury would require only minor surgery but scans revealed that it needed a full repair job and he is set to undergo surgery next week.

The setback was the latest one in a tough year for Oram, who forfeited his IPL fee after suffering a torn patella during the ODIs against Australia in March. He made it back for the ICC World Twenty20 but continued to feel pain and aggravated the problem again during a camp in Australia in July. Oram will now miss out on Central Districts campaign in the lucrative Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa.

“There are a number of reasons why this is terrible timing, and probably the reason why this is the hardest injury I’ve had to deal with,” he said. “With the amount of injuries and limited game time I’ve had, my form has dipped and with that a bit of confidence. I’ve also slipped down the batting order so I’m thinking, if I give bowling up, they’re not going to pick me as a specialist batter at seven or eight.”

On a brighter note, Oram returned home from Sri Lanka to find that his eight-month-old son had begun crawling and said despite his injuries that ” things could be a lot worse”.

Match Facts

Saturday, August 28, 2010
Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)

Big Picture

At long last, the seemingly interminable run of India-Sri Lanka matches, starting from the Asia Cup in 2008, will come to an end on Saturday. However, the bowler-friendly conditions in Dambulla have made it difficult to predict how even these most familiar of opponents will match up.

Sri Lanka, almost at full strength, probably have the edge, as their batting hasn’t had the embarrassing collapses India have. India, though, have shown the happy knack of raising their game for the finals of tournaments in Sri Lanka, winning two titles over the past year, despite looking second-best in the league phase.

Virender Sehwag’s chalk-and-cheese match-winning innings will make him the player Sri Lanka will fear, but the final also opens up an opportunity for the younger batsmen in the Indian side to cement their places, much like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif famously did in England during the build-up to the 2003 World Cup.

The final could well hinge on how the team’s back-up bowlers perform. Every team’s new-ball bowlers have been among the wickets. In the opening game, India had nipped out three early wickets but the loss of Abhimanyu Mithun to a heatstroke helped New Zealand fight back and reach the tournament’s highest total. Similarly, on Wednesday, New Zealand, missing Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram, let India escape after some early wickets.

One advantage Sri Lanka have is their batting depth. Thisara Perera, who showed off his hitting skills during a nets session on Friday morning, is likely to slot in at No. 8. In contrast, India have a long tail and the player filling the allrounder’s spot at No. 7, Ravindra Jadeja, hasn’t inspired any confidence with his batting.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WLWLW
India: WLWLW

Watch out for…

Praveen Kumar has perfected the art of providing India early breakthroughs in Dambulla. His dismissal of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over of the Asia Cup final set India on the road to the title. In the tri-series, he has invariably picked up a wicket in his first couple of overs, exploiting the seam movement on offer, immediately putting the opposition on the backfoot.

Angelo Mathews has established himself as Sri Lanka’s No. 1 allrounder over the past year, providing the team balance with his versatile batting, accurate medium-pace and unflappable temperament. He hasn’t contributed much with the bat this tournament, a blot he could erase in the final.

Team news

Sri Lanka have no injury concerns and could retain the XI that humbled India in their final league matches. Chamara Silva made a polished unbeaten 41 in his only chance to bat, Chamara Kapugedera hasn’t got too many chances in this tournament, and Perera’s five-for last Sunday should guarantee him a place in the side.

Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Nuwan Kulasekara, 11 Lasith Malinga

India haven’t experimented too much in this tournament despite their fluctuating form. Raw youngsters like offspinner R Ashwin and middle-order batsman Saurabh Tiwary weren’t tried in the league phase, so the bench beckons them for the final as well. The four-pacers strategy worked well in the crunch match against New Zealand, so India will probably stick to that in the final as well.

India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Rohit Sharma/Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Munaf Patel

Quotes

“I think when you are going well it is nice to keep going in important games. But before the tournament started we knew the schedule. So there are no complaints from our side.”
Kumar Sangakkara on his team’s five-day break before the final

The allrounder Jacob Oram will have knee surgery next week that will rule him out of the Champions League Twenty20 in another painful chapter to a career plagued by injury. Scans showed damage to Oram’s patella tendon and he is now hoping to return for Pakistan’s visit in December.

It continues a tough year for Oram, who forfeited his IPL fee when he suffered a torn patella during the one-day series with Australia in March. He made it back for the World Twenty20 but continued to feel pain and aggravated the problem again during a squad camp in Australia last month.

New Zealand’s team management hoped Oram would be able to get through the one-day tour of Sri Lanka but he was sent home this week. The surgery also hurts Central Districts, who have already lost Ross Taylor to Bangalore for the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa starting on September 10.

“While I’m gutted to miss the Champions League with the Stags I’m thankful the medical specialist has found the problem now so we can get the right plans in place to get it right,” Oram, 32, said. “I’ve been told that I should be realistically targeting the Pakistan homes series at the end of the year, but who knows, if surgery and rehab goes well I may be available for selection before the Indian tour in November.”

Oram described in April how his injury list had been “hellishly frustrating”, and that every new problem “eroded the energy of my psyche”. Despite the latest setback, he still wants to continue on until next year’s World Cup.

“It’s frustrating more than anything but I’ve been through this before,” he said. “I’m confident I can return injury free following a course of rehabilitation.”

Gloucestershire have signed James Fuller, a 20-year-old pace bowler from New Zealand, on a three-year contact.

Fuller plays for Otago but was born in South Africa and holds a British passport which means he doesn’t qualify as an overseas player. He has also been part of the New Zealand Under-19 team and joined a full training squad in 2010. John Bracewell, the former New Zealand player and coach, is currently in charge at Gloucestershire and links between the two are strong.

“The opportunity of playing cricket for Gloucestershire under John Bracewell, on so many famous grounds, and amongst such great players is truly the chance of a lifetime,” Fuller said. “I am extremely grateful to Gloucestershire for having faith in me, and look forward to repaying that through my pace bowling, and allrounder ability”.

James Franklin and Hamish Marshall are part of the current Gloucestershire side and Bracewell was looking forward to his latest New Zealand recruit. “It is great news to have signed James as he has enormous potential as a pace bowler and ball striker,” he said. “He is a genuine athlete who has chosen cricket as his profession and Gloucestershire will reap the benefit.”

India cantered to a 105-run victory over New Zealand in Dambulla, qualifying for Saturdays Tri-series final against tournament hosts Sri Lanka on the back of Virender Sehwag’s 93-ball 110.

Sehwag’s knock was the standout performance on a day where ball dominated bat as India managed only 223 and New Zealand were skittled for 118.

Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel, who claimed 3-21, ripped through the inexperienced Black Caps line-up after India failed to make the most of Sehwag’s century to leave an achieveable target.

New Zealand made a dismal start to their reply, losing wickets in a heap.

Kumar, who took 3-34, and Ashish Nehra used the conditions so well that the first four batsmen could not even reach double figures and by the 17th over Ross Taylor’s side had been reduced to 42 for six.

Martin Guptill, Taylor and Scott Styris were snared by Kumar, while Patel saw off Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins and Nathan McCullum.

New Zealand were reduced to 53 for eight, but a 27-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Kyle Mills and Tim Southee held the innings together for a while.

Ravindra Jadeja ended the stand by enticing Southee to play a lofted drive straight to long-on.

Mills then switched gears, smashing the bowling to all parts in an entertaining powerplay.

In the company of number 11 Andy McKay, he frustrated the bowlers and in the process also brought up his second one-day international fifty, studded with three sixes and seven fours.

Nehra wrapped up the New Zealand innings with the first ball of the 31st over when Mills holed out at long-on for an entertaining 52 off 35 balls.

Batting first after winning the toss, India made a shaky start by losing opener Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli early on, both caught poking outside off stump.

Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh added 34, but two quick wickets put India on the back foot again.

McKay and Southee claimed Yuvraj and Suresh Raina respectively, both perishing to poor shot selection.

But Sehwag, in the company of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, steadied the ship. Sehwag played more aggressively, while Dhoni largely got his runs in singles and twos.

Sehwag brought up his 13th century during a 107-run partnership that was broken by Nathan McCullum when Sehwag, who hit 16 fours and one six in his majestic innings, holed out at deep midwicket.

He had taken India to 173 for five in the 33rd over, but New Zealand’s bowlers clawed it back thereafter, making regular inroads into the India lower order.

Dhoni and Jadeja fell in quick succession for 38 and 17 respectively to leave India 199 for seven.

Southee picked up 4-49 and McCullum 3-35, keeping a tight leash on the batsmen who, with Sehwag and Dhoni gone, did not have the class to last 50 overs in testing conditions.

Mills also claimed two wickets as India’s tail succumbed meekly, the last five wickets falling for just 24 runs in under 10 overs.

Toss India chose to bat v New Zealand
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A fresh pitch was laid out for the final league game of the tri-series, but MS Dhoni wasn’t afraid of exposing his batsmen first up after their humiliating collapse batting first in the previous match. This match is a virtual semi-final and the grey area remains the batting. India have been inconsistent while the New Zealand batsmen haven’t had a hit in the middle for 12 days, thanks to their match against Sri Lanka, and the replay, being washed out in between.

Both teams went in with a few changes. It’s not often that an Indian team goes in with four frontline seamers, but India chose to drop Pragyan Ojha for an extra fast bowler, leaving spin responsibilities with Ravindra Jadeja and the part-timers. Munaf Patel, who has been in the reserves for a long time, finally got a game. Rohit Sharma who hasn’t been in the best of touch made way for Virat Kohli.

New Zealand suffered a blow earlier with news of Jacob Oram heading back home due to a knee injury. Another senior pro, Daryl Tuffey, pulled up with an injury, leaving New Zealand to field the less-experienced seam duo of Tim Southee and Andy McKay.

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 BJ Watling, 3 Ross Taylor (capt), 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Andy McKay

India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Munaf Patel, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra

Despite two flop shows in the tournament, the Indian team’s morale ahead of the crunch match against New Zealand seems to be pretty high. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina were involved in a brief, fun game of tennis-ball cricket with some of the local net bowlers ahead of practice. There was plenty of banter between the Indian batsmen and the bowlers during the nets, mostly debating whether a particular shot would have cleared an imaginary fielder or not.

There was serious training as well. Gary Kirsten had one-on-one chats with several of the young batsmen after giving them throw-downs in the nets, pointing out chinks in technique. For Monday’s optional session, 12 members of the side turned up, instead of the usual half a dozen or so.

“I think the preparation has been very good,” India captain MS Dhoni said. “Hopefully execution will also be good tomorrow.”

With Dambulla’s pitches different in character to the usual subcontinental tracks, Dhoni stressed the need to be watchful at the start of the innings. “It’s more about the mindset because in one-day cricket you’re so used to going after and hitting the bowlers right from the first delivery,” he said. “[Usually if you] give respect to the bowlers for the first 10 overs, the next 40 overs is yours. This is one of those venues where you have to prolong the respect for bowlers by another 10 overs.”

India folded for 88 and 103 in two matches, sandwiching a victory crafted by a Virender Sehwag special, but Dhoni wasn’t overly worried about the batting. “I won’t be bothered too much,” he said. “But if it’s said that this is the batting strength of our side, I won’t agree with that. One thing we can’t deny is that we have had two batting failures and we have to rectify the problem, get on the wicket and try to score some runs.”

In both defeats, the loss of wickets led to a near halt in the scoring: after losing the third wicket against Sri Lanka, India made 13 runs in seven overs, while the corresponding number in the opening game against New Zealand was six runs in five overs. Dhoni called for a more enterprising approach. “Most of the batsmen are trying to battle through and there are times when you can’t do that. If you get eight or 10 runs off five overs, it doesn’t really help you. You have to be brave enough to play your big shots or challenge the bowler. You have to keep speculating and you have to try and make a way through the opposition.”

Rohit Sharma is one batsmen having a horrid time, rarely looking comfortable at the crease all tournament, but he got a vote of confidence from his captain. “It’s a tricky situation for him,” Dhoni said. “There’s pressure when you are always in and out of the side. Especially on these wickets. Unfortunate to get out once when he didn’t get the umpire’s decision in his favour. He is working hard and his fitness has improved a lot.”

Wasim Akram reportedly called some of the Indian youngsters ’softies’, a charge Dhoni denied. “They have done really well in adverse and difficult conditions. Whether it’s in Australia or the T20 World Cup or some of the other tournaments where we were not at our best,” Dhoni said. “I think the guys are courageous enough to go through any conditions or situations thrown at them. We are just on the backfoot right now, with the conditions maybe. But these are the boys who will ultimately be part of the Indian cricket team now or sometime later.”

DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka): Bruised and battered in their previous outing, India go into the do-or-die encounter against a gritty New Zealand with concerns about the continuing poor form of their batsmen in the tri-series on Wednesday.

Languishing at the bottom of the points table, India will hope that rain does not play spoilsport as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men need an outright over the Kiwis to progress to Saturday’s final against Sri Lanka.

But going into the match, Dhoni would be a worried man as his famed top-order line-up has struggled throughout the series, the proof of which was the 103-run surrender to Sri Lanka in the last match.

Barring Virender Sehwag, all other Indian top-order batsmen have found the going tough on the tricky Rangagiri Dambulla wicket.

Sehwag will have to shoulder the responsibility of guiding the Indian innings against the pace-heavy Kiwi attack.

India’s main worry, however, will be the form of youngsters who have failed to rise to the occasion in the absence of seniors such as Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh.

Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have failed miserably in the earlier matches. To add to it, Dhoni himself has very little to show in the tournament.

But Yuvraj Singh’s return to runs in the last match might give Dhoni something to cheer about.

Yuvraj, who came back to the playing eleven against Sri Lanka in the last match after recovering from dengue, managed the only knock of substance for India with a fighting 38 off 64 balls.

“Next game is like a semi-final now. We have to do well in that match or we have to pack up and go back home,” Dhoni had said after the humiliating eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka, which was also India’s biggest loss in terms of balls remaining.

“Yuvraj batted well (in the last match). That was the positive thing. He is a crucial man at the middle order. He is the kind of guy who can graft for runs and also hit big shots,” the Indian skipper said of the left-hander.

On the bowling front, the Indian attack has done a fine job so far, except for the last match where they had very little to defend.

Seamers Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar have been impressive in the tournament while pace colleague Ishant Sharma too is getting back into his groove.

Left-arm tweaker Pragyan Ojha also did a decent job with the ball after being handed over the responsibility of spearheading the spin attack in Harbhajan’s absence.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will be a confident lot after having mauled India by 200 runs in the tournament opener.

Sitting at seven points compared to India’s five, the Kiwis too need an outright victory to qualify for the summit clash.

However in the event of the match being washed out due to rain, the Kiwis would automatically make it to the final.

New Zealand had a spectacular start to the tournament with the big win against India, but the Kiwis hit a low after losing to Sri Lanka by three wickets in the next match.

To add to New Zealand’s misery, their next match against Sri Lanka was washed out, which dragged them into the do-or-die situation.

The Kiwis would once again rest on captain Ross Taylor, who hit a 95 in the opening match against India, to lead from the front against Dhnoi’s men who are expected to roar back like wounded tigers.

Like the opening match, New Zealand’s balanced bowling attack will once again look to exploit the frailties of Indian top order.

The Kiwi pace duo of Kyle Mills and Daryl Tuffey is among wickets in the tournament while the slow bowlers were also chipping in with useful contributions.

The Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Saurabh Tiwary, Munaf Patel.

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (capt), Kyle Mills (vice-capt), Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Nathan McCullum, Andy McKay, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Peter Ingram, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Match starts 2.30 pm (IST).

New Zealand have denied making any offer to tour Pakistan to help raise funds for victims of the floods that have devastated much of the country over the last month. A PCB official told Cricinfo on Sunday than an offer had been made by NZC to help out the PCB, possibly through a flood relief game.

“An offer has been made by New Zealand cricket to help with the devastation in Pakistan, maybe through a flood relief game,” Nadeem Sarwar, the PCB media manager said. “It is at a very early stage just now but they have even said they would be willing to come to Pakistan if needed for that.”

But Justin Vaughan, chief executive NZC, said that though he had sent an email, at no point did he suggest that New Zealand would be touring Pakistan, a move which would herald the return of international cricket to the country after the terror attacks on Sri Lanka in Lahore in March 2009.

Vaughan told NZPA that an email had been sent to the PCB suggesting that cricket had a part to play in helping alleviate the suffering “but certainly it should not be construed that the Black Caps would be going to play there.

“At no point did we offer that the Black Caps would be touring as they certainly won’t be playing there this year. But it would be nice to think that in a cricket-loving country such as Pakistan that cricket could play a part in alleviating some of the suffering that is going on there.”

The stance was backed by New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association manager Heath Mills, who said that security concerns remain the biggest obstacle to any such idea. “[But] at this point in time there is no way anyone can consider putting a cricket team into Pakistan to play,” Mills said. “There remain significant security concerns over the safety of players and a number of issues identified following the attack on the Sri Lankan players have yet to be resolved.”

Mills added that the floods had diverted the attention of security forces “which is what you would expect but, if anything, the security risk will be greater now than at any other time so I don’t see the Black Caps going to Pakistan in the short term. But if there are ways to help the people of Pakistan, the cricketing community should be doing everything to help.”