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If Sourav Ganguly’s biggest bugbear as a captain was the inability to win the finals of tournaments, then m.s. dhoni’s problem seems to be the same as what australia suffered from when they were at their prime; getting the inconsequential and dead rubbers going their way. And to be fair to him, it is just a beginning of a trend and something that he need not lose too much sleep about. Yet, somehow, M.S. Dhoni’s decision to win the toss and elect to bat first was as startling as his counterpart Vettori’s in the previous one. It is quite a thing to win tosses and bat first in tests, when the pitches will have their own crests and troughs and probably end up playing quite differently on the last day from the first, and quite different to do that in a rain-infested ODI. After all, not only does the wicket become easier to bat on after the early moisture has dried out, but also makes it easier in case of rain-reduced games. Especially in new zealand, where the rather shortish boundaries ensure that no target ever looks unachievable. Both Vettori and Dhoni would have gained that experience from this series and one can be rest assured, lock it away at the back of their brains; to be used when the need arises.After the T20s, this was the first ODI which had something in it for the seam bowlers, and Team india struggled again. gautam gambhir’s prod and pokes have amassed him many runs on placid wickets, but he will have to find a newer technique for New Zealand, specially when the test matches could have a reasonable resemblance between the outfield and the pitch. In fact, one does hope for a little green on the wicket, because that would definitely even things out between the two teams. Oh, and by the way, ishant sharma bled runs. Again. Elsewhere, there is a World Cup going on. The women are engaged in this eight-nation tournament in Australia, and after having progressed to the Super Six stage, they had a daunting task of facing up to defending champions, Australia, in their own den. The Indian women haven’t had a great record against the Aussies in the recent past, and were the definite underdogs going into it. Yet, a collective effort from almost all the eleven eves had the hosts puffing for breath; finally culminating into 17-run win for India. While anjum chopra’s half century and in-form mithali raj’s 44 got India on track, it was the final impetus provided by amita sharma and harmanpreet kaur got them 53 runs off the last five overs and turned the match on its head. In reply, the Indian spinners played enough havoc in the middle to convert the match from an 800m race to a steeplechase, and got them a win. With this win, India have now moved to the second spot in the table behind england, but have a game against New Zealand – one of the stronger teams – yet to be played. A win here would most definitely see them through to the final!