Online Cricket : Live Score India vs New Zealand 1st Test Match , 1st Day at Hamilton : Watch out for

March 17, 2009

James Franklin is no longer a left-arm swing bowler who can make a handy contribution with the bat in the lower-order. During his recovery from a knee injury, he has improved his batting and developed into an allrounder. He even has a double-century in the State Championship and is set to take Jacob Oram’s spot in the batting line-up. “We want Frankie to bat No. 6 tomorrow,” Daniel Vettori said. “I think that’s his preferred role and he probably won’t have as big a role with the ball as he has had in the past. He won’t be expected to bowl 20-25 overs an innings. We really want to maximise his batting abilities. He is in fantastic form and he feels comfortable as a batter.”

Virender Sehwag was the bane of New Zealand’s bowling attack during the one-day series. “”I love it,” he said of the short boundaries and the placid pitches after pillaging 125 runs off 74 balls in the fourth ODI in Hamilton. The pitches will not be as placid in the Tests, the boundary rope might be pushed back further, and the ball could do a bit more in the mornings. Sehwag, however, isn’t likely to alter his approach too much. He scored 299 runs at a strike-rate of 150 in the ODIs and will continue to take advantage of every scoring opportunity in the Tests. “He [Sehwag] plays the way he wants to play, because that’s his natural style,” said Dhoni. “We all know if he gets going he can dominate the bowlers and all of a sudden you see the bowling attack rattled. We have seen if he plays for two hours or three hours, he is a batsman who is capable of getting big scores. He is not the kind who gets out in 30s or 40s or 50s or 60s.”