A n impressive exhibition of slow bowling from Daniel Vettori kept an otherwise undistinguished New Zealand side alive in a match played on another dead batting track. Presented with a meagre total to protect after an inept batting effort, the visiting captain produced a tantalising display of left-arm spin. Had the lofty lefty donned turned-up creams, he could have been mistaken for Hedley Verity or Wilfred Rhodes or any of the other craftsmen from previous generations. Had he been properly supported or found the pitch to his liking, his figures might have been more compelling. Instead, pitted against two accomplished players in Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey and after a long struggle, he had to give second best. But like the Battle of Waterloo, it was a close-run thing.
Forced to serve as both strike and stock bowler, Vettori worked hard in his unflappable way, keeping the batsmen guessing with his feints and changes. It is not in his nature to throw in the towel. Instead, he accepts the challenge. Still, he'd hardly be human if he did not occasionally wish that fate had dealt him a kinder hand than to be raised in a damp country short of top-class batsmen.
Odd as it may sound, amongst contemporary bowlers the Kiwi most closely resembles Glenn McGrath. His skill lies in his mastery of the basics. He has not developed a carrom ball or a skidder or any other speciality. His deliveries land in the same spot and the chief interest lies in their journey, not their destination. Some follow a flat trajectory and seem likely to drop short until an alarmed batsman realises that pace has been added. Others pursue a higher parabola, floating like kites in the wind. From a distance, these deliveries seem as harmless as cornflakes and as easy to dispatch as a transfixed chicken but it is altogether trickier from the receiving end.
The problem batsmen encounter is that these presentations, the fast and the slow and all the ones between, look the same. Vettori's pace ranges from 74 to 95kmh without any discernible adjustment. Accordingly his length is hard to detect and batsmen play the wrong shot. Similarly, Bishen Bedi seemed to have the ball on a string and change arm speed and moment of release without warning.
Vettori took the ball after the openers had passed 30 without running each other out. Immediately striking a length, operating without fear and forcing the left-handers to regroup, he caused confusion. Soon Matthew Hayden was guiding the ball towards mid-on and charging up the pitch with the intent detected in Scottish soldiers when the bagpipes are blowing. New Zealand celebrated the breakthrough.
Vettori took the next wicket himself. Noticing Simon Katich's habit of stabbing at deliveries with low hands, the tweaker sent down a dropping delivery that landed in the right spot and took the edge before making its way to short leg. Hereabouts it seemed the local batsmen might waste the advantage gained that morning by hostile and probing bowling and alert glovework. But it proved the tourists' high point. Australia has a long list of accomplished batsmen.
Not that the Kiwis' captain waved the white flag. Ponting was in prime form, cutting and driving through the covers, but Hussey poked around like a worried grandmother. Vettori crowded the southpaw and gave no ground to the Tasmanian. He knows that defence is defeat. Sensing the batsmen were getting used to him, the left-armer presently withdrew, the better to refresh his mind. Spinners need a break now and then.
On his return Vettori tried another tactic, going over the wicket to the right-hander and aiming at leg stick, thereby denying his counterpart room to play his shots. It worked. Vettori's next eight overs produced two runs and a wicket taken at the other end. Anxious to regain control, Ponting pulled a tempter to mid-wicket and departed - the slowie's scalp.
Vettori ended the day with modest figures that belied his performance. Not for the first time, the thought occurred of how much might have been accomplished had he been bowling behind the Australian or Indian batting orders. But life decreed otherwise.