Form and experience give India the edge

At the start of the Under-19 World Cup, not many people would have put money on New Zealand being among the final four contenders for the trophy. But they've made it and their penultimate challenge could prove to be their most gruelling as they aim for a spot in the finals.

The challenges facing New Zealand ahead of their showdown against India are several because, apart from the clinical discipline with which India have brushed away their previous opponents, there are circumstantial factors that could pose a few hurdles: it will be the first time New Zealand are playing at the Kinrara Oval, giving them no time to get used to ground conditions in a match situation, and apart from Tim Southee, none of their boys have played under lights before at any level of cricket.

India, on the other hand, have a 'home advantage', having played all of their matches at the Kinrara Oval. Undoubtedly their cricket skills have been vastly superior to those of their opponents in the tournament so far but they've also had several opportunities to master the conditions while their opponents - England in the quarter-final for instance - had none. Most of their players have also played under lights: Tanmay Srivastava, the No 3 batsman, says he's played day-night matches during the Challenger Series, domestic Twenty20 games, Ranji Trophy one-dayers and on an Under-19 tour to England in 2006.

New Zealand's group, which included Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, was based in Johor where the pitches, according to New Zealand coach Dipak Patel, "started off damp and assisted the seam bowlers. A lot of teams were three-four wickets down in the first ten overs. The winning of the toss was also very critical too. We were fortunate that we won two out of three tosses, which made a difference in terms of results." He conceded that India had a head start because of their familiarity with the Kinrara Oval.

"I suppose India have a huge advantage over most teams," Patel said. "I'm not sure not how it [the schedule] was worked out but it's almost like a home advantage. I wasn't aware of it until a couple of days ago but we're going into the game with an open mind."

New Zealand's performance in this World Cup has been a tremendous improvement from 2006 when they were eliminated in the first round. The results, Patel said, were not accidental but an outcome of careful preparation. "The planning compared to the previous World Cup has been ten times better," said Patel.

"In 2006, we only had three days to prepare the guys. This time we started preparations eight months ago. Bearing in mind the tournament, we brought India out to New Zealand for three [youth] Tests and three one-dayers. We made a conscious effort and selected seven boys who were going to be eligible for this World Cup and, out of the seven, six - George Worker, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Greg Morgan, Tim Southee and Trent Boult - have been selected."

New Zealand lost that one-day series 1-2 and drew the Tests but Patel said that series and the warm-up game before the World Cup had given New Zealand an insight into India's playing style.

That playing style - to sum it up succinctly - has been unbelievably consistent and the India coach Dav Whatmore acknowledged as much. "There are some sides that play unbelievable cricket one game and don't play as well the next game," he said. "India do their jobs consistently better than most teams and that's why they've got a good result."

Their bowlers haven't given the batsmen a tough target to chase yet, dismissing South Africa and England for below 200 and the batting, which has been the weakness of most sides including the other three semi-finalists, has been methodical and patient. A couple of punts - promoting Turuwar Kohli to open and giving Ajitesh Argal the new ball have worked superbly as well.

A conversation with Srivastava, perhaps India's best batsman, illustrated how organised India's batsmen were. "Before the game we take a stock of the opposition's bowling attacks," he said. "At the under-19 level every team has about two good bowlers. So the plan is to bat cautiously against them and think of accelerating when the first change bowlers come. You get about one bad ball an over; I try to score off that ball and attempt to take a single the next ball to rotate strike"

It sounds so simple when it's on paper but India's near-perfect execution of the basics is the reason why they have emerged as the toughest team in the tournament. New Zealand start the game as underdogs and will have to display remarkable adaptability to end India's campaign tomorrow.