A WARM, mellow November sun shone down benevolently on Thursday afternoon as one touched down at the Wellington International Airport after a 70- minute haul from Auckland. Outside the terminal, people were walking around in their tees, soaking in the sun, happy that the (in)famous wind that has given the New Zealand capital the nickname of Windy Welly had thankfully taken the day off. Normal service was restored on Friday, which dawned damp and gloomy. As the morning segued into the afternoon, the wind picked up, the rain came down steadily and drove New Zealand’s players to the indoor facility at Wellington College, overhanging the Basin Reserve, the earmarked training venue ahead of Saturday’s second OneDay International. India’s optional training session, scheduled for the afternoon, was cancelled altogether in deference to the weather, which is predicted to play spoilsport at various stages on match afternoon. If the forecast does hold true and the rain makes an unwelcome appearance, it will be a carping shame because India’s five-wicket victory on Wednesday has set this five-match series up beautifully. The visitors’ first 50-over win in this country in seven and a half years came on the back of a splendid display by the faster bowlers, the rookie bunch expertly spearheaded by Arshdeep Singh and buttressed by the efficacy of Anshul Kamboj, the Player of the Match. India have the option of bolstering their pace riches by bringing in Mohammed Siraj, who has joined the team after his exertions with India A in Christchurch earlier in the week, though whether they are inclined to do so will only be clear if the weather doesn’t throw a spanner in the works. There weren’t too many boxes that India didn’t tick at Eden Park.

 

While the four-pronged pace attack also comprising the strapping, pacy Gurnoor Brar and the slippery Auqib Nabi took most of the applause, Virat Kohli produced an innings of rare incandescence and skipper Shubman Gill got a useful hit out in the middle though he must be disappointed at not having kicked on. But there are areas that India will look to improving in at the Hnry Stadium, the venue for Saturday’s outing. A multi-purpose arena with no cricket practice facilities, the venue has changed sponsors (and therefore name) on a regular basis. India have played there previously, winning two of four outings (with one no-result), and will hope they get a reasonable duration in which to get some of their batters into run-scoring mode, not least Rohit Sharma. The former skipper did court a six-ball nought, caught at midoff in the first over off Kyle Jamieson, but by no stretch of the imagination is he short on runs. Before Wednesday, he had run up a sequence of 92, 101, 32 and 138 in his preceding four ODI innings, the last of themagainst England at Lord’s in July sparking a rich vein that has clearly hit just the most temporary of blips. While Rohit was caught on the drive, the other four Indian wickets to fall were to short deliveries. Gill, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer were all caught pulling and Axar Patel perished attempting to cut. While it will be a stretch to conclude that the mini-collapse of four for 22 with victory imminent opened old wounds inflicted by the short ball in the past, India’s batters will want to showcase that Eden Park was only an aberration and that the ball banged into the surface to rest out the bounce is hardly their kryptonite. It was confirmed on Friday that New Zealand, outplayed in Auckland but hardly pressing the panic button, will be without the concussed Devon Conway for the rest of the series, with Nick Kelly drafted in as his replacement.