The mighty Indian batting came crumbling down like a pile of bricks as New Zealand skittled out the visitors for meagre 149 runs in 36.3 overs in the fifth and final ODI today.
AUCKLAND: The mighty Indian batting came crumbling down like a pile of bricks as New Zealand skittled out the visitors for meagre 149 runs in 36.3 overs in the fifth and final ODI today.
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Opting to bat after rain had delayed the start by 90 minutes, India crashed for their lowest total in the series with only Virender Sehwag (40) and Rohit Sharma (43 not out) getting some runs under their belt.
For the hosts, Jesse Ryder's military medium pace earned him three wickets for 29 runs in his nine over. The Kiwis used the cold, windy conditions to great advantage today and Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien seamed the ball disconcertingly, repeatedly beating Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
Unable to break free from the Kiwi clutches, Gambhir (5 off 16 balls) eventually tickled Mills to Peter McGlashan.
Suresh Raina (8) too was all at sea against the seamers, barely connecting when he chose to counter attack. After scratching around the square for 19 balls, he braved to hit Jacob Oram over the top, only to see Scott Styris, who replaced an injured Ewen Thompson, bring off a stunning catch at mid-off. Raina had been reprieved by Brendon McCullum earlier in the innings.
Sehwag, spilled by Styris at first slip off O'Brien, didn't last long, miscuing a pull off Oram and offering a soft catch to McCullum at point. He made 40 off 27 balls, including three fours and three sixes.
With their nemesis rid off the square, the Blackcaps moved in like hungry sharks to decimate the rest of the Indian batting. Yuvraj Singh (11), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) and Yusuf Pathan (0) fell in a heap as India plummeted to 111 for six.
Poor running between wickets cost India the scalps of Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, both falling victims to Rohit Sharma's misjudgment. The end came when Ishant Sharma was gobbled up by Ross Taylor at first slip off O'Brien.
It was with the intent to complete a 4-0 rout that India fielded an unchanged side for the match and it would now take an exceptionally good bowling and fielding performance by them to stall New Zealand from salvaging some pride in this game.
Scoreboard:
India:
Gautam Gambhir c McGlashan b Mills 5
Virender Sehwag c McCullum b Oram 40
Suresh Raina c Styris b Oram 8
Rohit Sharma not out 43
Yuvraj Singh c McGlashan b Ryder 11
MS Dhoni b Ryder 9
Yusuf Pathan b Ryder 0
Harbhajan Singh run out 1
Zaheer Khan run out 5
Praveen Kumar c McGlashan b O'Brien 6
Ishant Sharma c Taylor b O'Brien 3
Extras: (LB-9, W-9) 18
Total: (all out in 36.3 overs) 149
Fall of wickets: 1-30 2-65 3-69 4-88 5-110 6-111 7-116 8-131 9-143.
Bowling: Mills 7-0-27-1; O'Brien 7.3-0-43-2; Oram 9-0-22-2; Ryder 9-0-29-3; Daniel Vettori 4-0-19-0.
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