New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton, 1st day

'We stuck to how we both know to play' - Vettori

Mar 18, 2009: Daniel Vettori can be an irritating tailender, robbing the game of all its momentum, playing little dab shots, with soft hands, and taking single after single. But he isn't. He gets to play very little for Northern Districts, his state side, given his int

New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton, 1st day

Wish you were here

Mar 18, 2009: It was an exhilarating day's play. Six wickets in the first session, followed by two superb centuries, a good comeback by the bowling side and a blazing start by the visitors

New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton, 1st day

The drama around Ryder's maiden century

Mar 18, 2009: The hapless Chris Martin came in to bat with five balls to go in the Harbhajan over, with Ryder looking on from the non-striker's end, two short of a maiden Test century.

New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton, 1st day

New Zealand take no passengers

Mar 18, 2009: Plays of the Day from the first day of the Hamilton Test between New Zealand and India from March 18 to 22, 2009

New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton

Dangerous underdogs

Mar 17, 2009: A tough series will maintain the credibility of New Zealand's Test side, a win will set them forward by leaps, but they can't afford to get outplayed

New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton

Buoyant India unfazed by dismal record

Mar 17, 2009: They may not have a Test win in New Zealand since 1976 but India are focused on winning the series instead of worrying about past performances

India in New Zealand 2008-09

The Tests are here

Mar 16, 2009: The first thing Daniel Vettori did upon arriving at Seddon Park, two days before the first Test, was to have a look at the pitch. He inspected it for a good five to ten minutes and then chatted with the curator Karl Johnson

India in New Zealand 2008-09

A tale of two comebacks

Mar 16, 2009: If the two teams needed any motivation before the start of the Tests, it has arrived in the form of L Balaji and James Franklin

Meetings and beatings

Mar 16, 2009: Former cricketers - and a hockey star - queue up to be interrogated by our intrepid correspondent, and bowlers get the rough end of the stick

Sidharth Monga on India in New Zealand 2008-09

Old replace the young

Mar 15, 2009: As Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Rohit Sharma, and other ODI specialists left for the airport, to fly back to India, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid posed for photographs with fans, in the foyer

India in New Zealand 2008-09

Hosts hoping for a sporting Hamilton track

Mar 15, 2009: New Zealand will look to ride the momentum from a thumping win last night, and also the bounce the pitch offered, when they go into the Test series that begins this Wednesday

New Zealand v India, 5th ODI, Auckland

'We failed to capitalise' - Dhoni

Mar 14, 2009: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Daniel Vettori on the fifth and final ODI in Auckland

New Zealand v India, 5th ODI, Auckland

Why Ryder was a good investment

Mar 14, 2009: Jesse Ryder is not your everyday cricketer - on the ratio of natural talent to hard work, he relies heavily on the side of talent

Plays of the day

Scotty and Baz fly, Jesse and Ishant fight

Mar 14, 2009: Plays of the day for the fifth ODI between New Zealand and India in Auckland

New Zealand v India, 5th ODI, Auckland

India win battle of part-timers too

Mar 13, 2009: Between them Yuvraj and Yusuf have bowled 34.4 overs for 190 runs and seven wickets. In 39.1 overs, Oram, Ryder and Elliot have gone for 311 runs and two wickets. There's only one winner when you compare economy-rates of 5.23 and 7.94

India in New Zealand 2008-09

Warm-up games not essential - Kirsten

Mar 13, 2009: Gary Kirsten has joined Virender Sehwag in saying that a warm-up game is not really necessary on a tour

Sidharth Monga on India in New Zealand 2008-09

High on 420

Mar 12, 2009: Dion Nash was not the man for too much water in his playing days

New Zealand v India, 5th ODI, Auckland

A lot at stake for New Zealand bowlers

Mar 12, 2009: New Zealand's bemused bowlers play a dead rubber in Auckland on Saturday that has a lot at stake for them. A win will help them restore some credibility, Daniel Vettori had said minutes after Virender Sehwag smote his side into submission in Hamilton on W

New Zealand v India, 4th ODI, Hamilton

It's very tough for NZ bowlers to stop me - Sehwag

Mar 11, 2009: Only Virender Sehwag can say that he felt sorry for the bowlers, without sounding arrogant. The arrogance is for on the field, which he showed a plenty of against New Zealand at Seddon Park today

New Zealand v India, 4th ODI, Hamilton

A century with a six

Mar 11, 2009: Plays of the Day in the fourth ODI between New Zealand and India in Hamilton