Fleming leads New Zealand to an easy win in final ODI It is difficult to decide who will be more relieved that the one-day series is over - the cricketers or the paying public. Promised a pitch full of runs at Hamilton, the teams yet again got a seamer, and just as predictably, India crumbled to another score in the low three-digits. At 44 for six, in fact, it looked as if they might not even cross 100, but Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble ground out gritty mini-knocks that enabled the tourists to scrape to 122. Andre Adams was the chief destroyer for New Zealand with four for 21. India looked to be striking back when they had the hosts reeling at 32 for three, but Stephen Fleming, still rooted to the opening slot, made a skilled 60 off 92 balls that guided his side to a win - and, ultimately, a 5-2 scoreline in the one-day series. Not an encouraging sign for India, but the World Cup should hopefully bring more runs, better pitches - and more importantly, more wins.

Fleming calls for pitch evaluations When Stephen Fleming made an unbeaten 60 in the final game to steer New Zealand home, he became only the fourth New Zealander to top 50 in the series. On the Indian side, bowled out four times for scores in the low three-digits, five batsmen averaged single figures, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Skipper Fleming said, "It's been a very difficult summer for our batting unit, full stop. We have our techniques scrutinised on wickets that have been very, very bowler-friendly and that's often been overlooked, which peeves us a bit." "The surfaces need to be looked at a lot more closely. You start questioning your belief on the sort of poor surfaces we have experienced," continued Fleming. "I think it's fair to say the wickets throughout the summer have been below par, it's as simple as that." "I'm going to keep talking about belief. We've got a good side and I'm going to keep hammering it. I believe in these guys," added Fleming. "We've beaten a very good side in tough conditions and there's no reason in better conditions we can't play even better." Indian captain Ganguly felt it was time that Indian cricket recovered from this loss, starting with their trip home for a 10-day rest before leaving for South Africa and the World Cup. "We've been to South Africa before where we've got runs," he said. "So it' s not like it can't happen, but it's got to happen again." "We've got to forget the bad times which we've had in this series and look forward. I'm convinced we'll have a good World Cup despite what's happened here. You have bad times, which means you look forward even more to the good times."

El Nino not behind pitch problems in NZ this summer New Zealand Turf Culture Institute guru Keith McAuliffe discounts the El Nino theory for the state of pitches in this country this summer. Though both New Zealand and India struggled to come to grips with pitches' lateral movement during the one-day series, McAuliffe said that in his discussions with most of the turf managers this year, they had been happy with the preparation processes. He said all grounds had time enough to have their pitches ready, except in the case of Westpac Park for the second Test and possibly Eden Park for the first ODI. There was a lot more grass on pitches and this was the result of a particular push for more pace, bounce and carry as directed as policy by New Zealand Cricket. "This has been achieved and our pitches are not the slow, low dungers they were in the past," said McAuliffe.

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