New Zealand vs West Indies: Colin de Grandhomme's century highlights the importance of counter-attacking batsmen

New Zealand were always expected to be stiff opponents for the Windies. A sizzling spell from Neil Wagner ensured that the Kiwis were right on top of the visitors after Day One at Wellington. But having sent back the cream of New Zealand’s top order–Tom Latham, and skipper Kane Williamson, West Indies had hopes of inspiring a fightback.

Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel weren’t quite threatening, but the duo of Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins kept things tight. Ross Taylor, boasting a phenomenal record against the Windies (average of 60+ in Tests including three hundreds and a double hundred), and Henry Nicholls slowly built up a threatening lead with a 127-run association.

That said, at no point of time were the Windies totally out of the contest. A wicket or two and the visitors could still harbour hopes of putting up a fight. By tea, New Zealand had reached 267/4, and a lead that was close to making West Indies uncomfortable. They would have ideally wanted Nicholls and Taylor to carry on after the break but the southpaw departed an over post tea to bring Colin de Grandhomme to the wicket.

Unlike the steady duo of Taylor and Nicholls, who opted to put caution over aggression, de Grandhomme chose a different route, one which would see him stick to his natural game and reap rich benefits.

From 272 in 93 overs at 2.92 runs an over, the run-rate shot up to 3.57 in 120 overs as the score touched 429. De Grandhomme, who blasted two back to back fours the moment he walked out to bat, scored his maiden Test hundred in 71 balls, a knock that would dump and burn West Indies’ hopes of rekindling a fightback. It was the ninth fastest Test hundred and the second quickest by a Kiwi.

While all the hullabaloo was unfolding at Basin Reserve, India were battling Sri Lanka at Delhi in what was supposedly a preparatory match for the South African tour. But the track laid out at Feroz Shah Kotla hardly seemed like one which would equip the Indians for the conditions anticipated in the Rainbow Nation.

Dinesh Chandimal even took a dig at the Indians on the eve of the Test stating that he didn’t see the Delhi pitch aiding India’s preparation for South Africa. “If you look at the wicket here (Kotla), I am not sure they are preparing for South Africa! It looks like a Nagpur pitch (where 610 runs were scored).”

All the talk has been about the Indian batsmen learning to counter the swing, seam movement and bounce expected. This would ideally mean settling down at the wicket, analysing the conditions, playing out testing spells and relying on patience and temperament.

Much has been discussed about how the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are the lynchpins in the Indian Test batting line-up.

But does batting slow, taking time to settle down and then scoring runs always work?

Take for instance the case of Cheteshwar Pujara.

Pujara’s record is stupendous in India, averaging 64.12, while it is less than impressive in Australia (average of 33.50), England (average of 22.20), New Zealand (average of 15) and even West Indies (average of 31).

The No 3 batsman averages 44.42 in South Africa but that belies a lot of actual facts. His average is bloated by a 153 at Johannesburg where the wicket was more or less flat. In fact, he has crossed 50 only one other time in the other 6 innings’ in the country.

Rahul Dravid, another batsman often praised for his outstanding temperament, has also found the going tough in South Africa. He has just three scores of fifty or more in the country in 22 innings’. These have come at a strike rate of 37.63. On the contrary, more swift strikers of the ball like Laxman and Tendulkar have enjoyed considerably more success.

All of this makes the role of accelerators or counter-attacking batsmen like Colin de Grandhomme crucial in testing conditions. A run a ball half-century or a few bludgeoning sixes can alter the course of the game and tilt the momentum of the contest.

It is here that the role of someone like Hardik Pandya should ideally be formulated. Pandya is enjoying a break at the moment but would be a definite shoo in for that South African series. He has played just three Test matches till date and has a century and a half-century already, averaging 59.33 and crucially striking at a rate more than 100.

While purists may view that strike rate with suspect eyes, it isn’t actually a bad quality to have on tough overseas tours.

The fearless Pandya could be a more than handy batsman at No 7 for India batting behind the likes of Kohli, Pujara, Vijay, Rahane and Saha/Ashwin. The pitches in South Africa have slowed down over the past few years and this could mean that the new ball would be crucial in terms of picking up wickets.

The Proteas boast of a rich seam bowling battery and it is a definite possibility that the Indian top order might struggle to get going. It is here that somebody like Pandya could be used to shift the momentum of the game. Ben Stokes did it with aplomb in South Africa last year, stroking his way to a marvellous double hundred.

The Faf du Plessis-led Proteas have time and again shown a tendency to panic when pushed to the backfoot and it is this weakness that Stokes exploited at Cape Town.

Colin de Grandhomme’s blitz in New Zealand, where conditions are quite similar to that expected in South Africa, is another example in this regard. While the focus has entirely been on the matured Indian top-order, Pandya could be the unexpected hero for India in South Africa if he can stick to his natural game and produce counter-attacking knocks like de Grandhomme.