India cruise to a five-wicket win over Netherlands

India made heavy weather of their chase against the Netherlands before cruising to a five-wicket victory in a World Cup Group B match here on Wednesday.

The win assured India of a quarterfinals place and they lead the group with seven points after four matches. They will now take on South Africa in Nagpur on Saturday.

The Netherlands, on the other hand, slumped to their fourth defeat in as many matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table.

Chasing a modest 190-run target, Virender Sehwag (39) and Sachin Tendulkar (27) gave India a blazing start before left-arm spinner Peter Seelaar struck thrice in the first 10 overs to give the hosts brief jitters at the packed Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.

Yuvraj Singh (51), who hit a third successive fifty, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) then stitched an unbeaten 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket to allow India coast home in 36.3 overs.

It was another all-round performance from Man of the Match Yuvraj, whose left-arm spin fetched him his 100th wicket as he ended with figures of two for 43.

Openers Sehwag and Tendulkar scored a brisk 69 runs in 8.3 overs before Seelaar struck. Sehwag trying to smack Seelar ended up getting caught by Alexei Kervezee at point. Seelaar then silenced the crowd by dismissing Tendulkar and Yusuf Pathan (11) in his next over.

Tendulkar came down the track to charge Seelar but found Bradley Kruger at long off. Three balls later, Pathan, who was promoted up the order at No.4, gave an easy return catch to Seelaar.

More drama followed when Gautam Gambhir (28) and Virat Kohli (12) escaped an easy run out after a terrible mix up. Delhi lad Kohli, however, did not last long and was bowled by skipper Peter Borren to spark celebrations in the Dutch camp that reduced India to 99 for four, as the hosts lost four wickets for 30 runs.

Yuvraj, who struck seven fours in his 73-ball innings, and Gambhir (28) collected 40 runs to calm things down before the latter was bowled by Mudassar Bukhari.

There was no such comfort for the Netherlands who failed to forge a decent partnership after openers Eric Szwarczynski (28) and Wesley Barresi (26) departed after rustling up 56 runs and were all out in 46.4 overs.

Electing to bat on a wicket that had low bounce, the Dutch negotiated the new ball well but failed to capitalise on the steady start.

Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who replaced Munaf Patel for his first match in this World Cup, could not get an early breakthrough and it was left to Piyush Chawla to provide it as he bowled Szwarczynski with a googly. Then Yuvraj (2-43), fresh from his maiden five-wicket haul against Ireland, struck twice before Zaheer came back to check a late Dutch onslaught by taking two quick wickets to finish with 3-20.

Dhoni used his bowlers in short spells. Surprisingly, he gave Nehra only one over with the new ball and Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh were introduced in the fourth and seventh overs, respectively.

Yuvraj got Barresi leg before for his 100th ODI wicket and he got a huge applause from the crowd as the number flashed on the electronic scoreboard.

A lot was expected of Ryan ten Doeschate (11), who had made a hundred against England, but he misread a Yuvraj delivery and scooped a simple catch to Zaheer the straight field.

Skipper Peter Borren (38) and Mudassar Bukhari (21) gave a late flourish to their innings with a quick fire 38-run stand for the ninth wicket.

Borren swatted Chawla for two successive sixes over mid-on and midwicket in the leg-spinner's last over that went for 17 runs and spoiled his figures.

Taking the cue from his skipper, Bukhari hit Nehra for a six and a four in the next over. Bukhari then slammed Harbhajan for another six in the 46th over before Zaheer removed him and Borren in three balls to end the Dutch innings.