The cricket party reaches Kanpur
The party reaches Kanpur
The venue
From Pune, the cricket party has now reached Kanpur. It’s a busy and bustling, large industrial city situated on the banks of river Ganga with a population of around three million. The stadium established in 1945 and located in the north-eastern part of the city, overlooks the holy river. The stadium was named Green Park after Madam Green who fancied horse-riding there in the 1940s.
ODI history
ODIs history on the Green Park dates back to 1986 and the first match was played between Sri Lanka and India. It wasn’t a very auspicious beginning in terms of ODIs on the ground for India as they lost the match by a mammoth margin of 117 runs. I checked the scores on the ESPN website and shockingly found that only two Indian batsmen, K Srikkanth and DB Vengsarkar, had managed to get into double digit score.
In a complete contrast, the last ODI match at the ground in 2015 was a close affair between South Africa and India. The result though was the same. India failed to get to the required target and fell heartbreakingly short by a mere five runs. Rohit Sharma had hit a magnificent 150. Entire India will be hoping that he is able to do an encore here and push India across the line.
The pitches here have mostly been slow and have offered very little to bowlers, though, at times, have provided assistance to spinners. Incidentally, this is the ground where Mohammad Azharuddin hit the third of his three successive test hundreds.
A total of 14 ODIs have been played at the venue with six matches won batting first and eight won bowling first. Highest total by India on the ground is 298 (in the match discussed above) and highest total on the ground has been 303 by South Africa (again in the match above). Average first innings scores are around 240 and second innings score are around 220. I am sure first innings score will be much higher this time.
In India, New Zealand has had very little success with just eight wins and 24 losses. New Zealand has so far never won a bilateral cricket series in India. They came pretty close last time in 2016 though. Overall the teams have locked horns in 100 ODIs, including the last two recent matches. India has had its nose ahead with 50 wins and New Zealand has come out on top in 44 matches.
So, this is the 101st match between the two teams. In another few hours we will all know who comes out on top this time. Will New Zealand be able to break the deadlock India has over it in home conditions or will India continue its stupendous run and keep up its dominance at home.
Whatever the case, we the cricket lovers, will have a gala time watching the contest.
Latest update
PS: New Zealand needs to score 338 (a new high at the ground) to win its first series in India. It’s not just an innings now but a potential history in the making. The question is if New Zealand has it in them here at the Green Park stadium? We will all have the answer soon.
And, Rohit did do an encore. Will it take India across the line? Let’s see...
Rohit’s, as well as Virat’s century, along with some inspired bowling by Chahal and Bumrah did take India through.