Champions Trophy: Sunday to Sunday, NZ brace for mystery test

Dubai: Part 1 of the Varun Chakravarthy vs New Zealand series played out last Sunday. It was exhilarating to watch as the Kiwi batters tried and failed to decipher the Indian bowler’s mystery code.

Part 2 is all set to release the coming Sunday. This time the stakes are higher and it’s for New Zealand to get their bearings right.

Chakravarthy’s 5/42 may make it seem like a one-sided battle, but it’s wasn’t one. New Zealand has a number of twinkle-toed batters and a few others who can hit the ball a long mile. But such is the complexity of facing mystery spin that unless you are picking the bowler from the hand, you are usually playing the guessing game or forced to be overly watchful.

When England faced Chakravarthy, just before the Champions Trophy, a lot of their batters had no idea of how to play him. So, when in doubt (which they were in all the time), they swept. It didn’t work out well though.

New Zealand tried to play him out. The pitch was slow, took some spin and India had such a wide range of spinners to choose from, that in the bargain, the asking rate kept mounting. Until it reached a point where their anchor batter Kane Williamson was forced to take risks. Once he fell, that was the match.

“It was not a rank turner as such, which people were projecting it to be,” Chakravarthy said. “But definitely, it was holding a bit, and it was deviating a little bit just to create the doubt. So basically, you had to play around it. So, I would say I would dedicate my five wickets to the other bowlers also. The way they bowled on the other side helped me pick wickets on this side.”

If New Zealand’s estimate is that the pitch will offer less grip, like in the semi-final, the Kiwi batters will take the attacking route more. But what if it’s the same pitch as last Sunday?

“Look, I think when you have a wrist spinner like that bowling, then you’re looking for cues as a batsman and I think it’s always a little bit easier when you’re in the daylight to see those things,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. An interesting insight, suggesting if the pitch is expected to progressively take more spin, they could employ the bat first approach.

“But there’s no doubt, he’s a class bowler. He obviously showed his skills against us last time and he’s a big, big threat in the game. So, we’ll be putting our thinking caps on around how we nullify that and how we can still score runs against him,” Stead added.

A longer stay at the crease for Rachin Ravindra could give them a better chance. Having played at Chepauk for the Chennai Super Kings and on evidence of his recent showings in the Test series, Rachin has the shots to counter spin. Similarly, Daryl Mitchell is known to take down spinners in the V. It is for the powerful Kiwi to sit with the analyst and see if he can find cues to pick Chakravarthy’s deliveries early. On a tactical front, New Zealand could consider promoting someone like Michael Bracewell, who is capable of using his long levers.

“All our batsmen will have their individual plans around how they want to combat them and then it comes down to I think good communications in the middle and sometimes a little bit of bravery to take those options on,” the coach said. “So we’re certainly up for that, we’re up for that challenge and that’s what India will bring and we know that they’ve got four very capable spinners.”

On his end, Chakravarthy knows, his opponents will come better prepared. Re-invention is a never-ending pursuit for a mystery spinner. More importantly, he’s also become fully acquianted with the patience game for ODI cricket.

“On such slow wickets, the ball doesn’t turn fast, it turns slow,” he said. “So, you need to wait it out and it just happens, if it’s your day it happens to you.”

Matt Henry uncertain for the final

New Zealand speedster Matt Henry who landed on his shoulder in the semi-final against South Africa is not a certain starter for the final.

“We’ve had some scans and stuff done on him and we’re going to give him every chance to be playing in this match, so still a little bit unknown at this stage,” head coach Gary Stead said.

“He’s obviously pretty sore just from landing on the point of his shoulder, but yeah, hopefully he will be okay.”

Henry has picked up ten wickets including a 5-fer against India in the tournament. If Henry misses out, tall right-arm pacer Jacob Duffy could slot in his place.