New Zealand bag consolatory 5th ODI, India win series 3-1

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New Zealand bag consolatory 5th ODI, India win series 3-1

Posted by admin on Mar 14th, 2009 // No Comment

Riding on two splendid half-centuries by Martin Guptill (57) and Jesse Ryder (63), New Zealand thrashed India by 8 wickets in the fifth and final One-Day International at Auckland.

Ryder shined in the bowling department too, as he picked three crucial wickets – Yuvraj Singh (11), MS Dhoni (9) and Yusuf Pathan (0) and was named ‘Man of the Match’.

Despite the loss, India clinched the series 3-1 as they had defeated the Kiwis in the first ODI (by 53 runs (D/L)), third ODI (by 58 runs) and fourth ODI (by 84 runs (D/L). Second ODI was abandoned due to heavy rains.

Defending a mere total of 149, India managed to clinch just two wickets. Pacer Praveen Kumar struck early to remove Brendon McCullum for just 2 runs while lanky Ishant Sharma removed Ryder’s bails to give his side some relief.

But the effort came late as Ryder played well to raise second fifty of his career and add on to visitor’s woes. Guptill also slammed a fifty that was third of his ODI career.

After Ryders’s departure, Ross Taylor (28 off 33) joined Guptill and supported him well till the end to finish off the match with 118 balls remaining.

On the Saturday morning, early shower at Auckland delayed the match between India and New Zealand. The play was shortened to 43-over per side. Powerplays situation was turned to 9-4-4 and three bowlers were allowed to bowl 9 overs and two eight.

Electing to bat first, India opener Virender Sehwag looked in his dangerous form to give India a solid start. His shots all over the ground made India cross 50-run mark in no time. But his partner – Gautam Gambhir – could not support him and gifted his wicket early to Kyle Mills for just 5 runs.

Suresh Raina came in next to partner a confident-looking Sehwag, but was soon removed by Jacob Oram with the help of a brilliant catch by Scott Styris, for just 8 runs.

Sehwag, who was adjudged ‘Man of the Series’ for his purple patch, continued his aggressive batting and smashed 40 runs off 57 balls. And just when he looked settled, Oram struck for the second time to send him back to pavilion.

Yuvraj Singh stepped in to revive Indian innings but in vain. Ryder took the charge and the left-hander was caught by wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan when he was on 11. Yuvraj’s wicket left India tottering at 84/3.

Skipper Dhoni was expected of a captain’s innings but he failed to deliver. He misread a Ryder delivery to get clean bowled on 9 runs. This was Ryder’s second wicket for the day.

Ryder picked Yusuf Pathan as his third victim and left India depleted. Rohit Sharma, at the other end on 21, felt the heat when the batting line-up was exhausted after Pathan’s exit.

The bottom four Indian wickets tumbled one after the other in regular intervals to wipe off the hopes of a fighting total. Harbhajan Singh (1) and Zaheer Khan (5) too failed to give a fight and threw away their wickets when they fell short of crease.

Neil O’Brien swept the last two wickets in the form of Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar for 3 and 6 runs respectively. Rohit Sharma (43) held the fort till the end, adding some crucial runs, but they weren’t enough to put a big score. A total of 149 runs in 36.3 overs was all India could manage.

New Zealand team: JD Ryder, BB McCullum, MJ Guptill, LRPL Taylor, GD Elliott, JDP Oram, PD McGlashan, DL Vettori, KD Mills, SB Styris, IE O’Brien

India team: V Sehwag, G Gambhir, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, RG Sharma, YK Pathan, P Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, I Sharma