India crash to a huge defeat in series opener by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla
Scorecard:	India v New Zealand
Player:	LRPL Taylor, SB Styris, DR Tuffey
Event:	Sri Lanka Tri Series 2010

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DateLine: 10th August 2010

 

New Zealand handed India a huge defeat in the series opener. Batting first New Zealand compiled a challenging 289. India in reply were dismissed for a paltry 88 runs thus crashing to 200 runs defeat

 

Ross Taylor won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat first. The Indian seamers, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra, bowled a brilliant spell as they got the ball to nip around. The openers and the debutant Williamson were removed with not much trouble and the Kiwi innings was wobbling at 28 for 3. That brought the stand-in skipper Ross Taylor and all-rounder Scott Styris to the crease and the two steadied the innings. It was survival first approach and once they sussed the conditions began to up the ante. With the third seamer Mithun unable to bowl to some injury Dhoni had to use his part-time spinners more than what he would have liked. That was the get-away that the Kiwi pair needed in the middle as they scored freely.

 

When the pacers came back into the attack the duo had settled down. Ojha finally cleaned up Styris before Nehra brought India back into the game. The lanky seamer then worked his way through the middle and the lower order as he claimed the wickets of Oram, Tuffey and including the dangerous Taylor. Tuffey before holing out played some lusty blows to get New Zealand close to the 300 run mark. New Zealand finally were all out for 288 in 48.5 overs.

 

India in reply got off to a steady start. Sehwag and Karthik had a charmed life in the middle before luck ran out. The Kiwi bowling attack is heavily dependent on pace and it was important that they strike early. The pacers duly responded to the plan as they brought destruction to Indian batting line up with Tuffey being the main architect. Sehwag gloved one down the legs while Karthik played the wrong line and was adjudged leg before. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina played some loose shots and that contributed to their downfall. Yuvraj Singh struggled to get the ball off the square while MS Dhoni played one of the most uncharacteristic innings that one could see of him.

 

Dhoni ran himself out while Yuvraj's miserable stay in the middle was brought to an end by Andy McKay. At 62 for 6 the match was as good as over and it was to be seen as to whether India would crash to their heaviest defeat in their ODI history. India were finally dismissed for 88 as they lost the tournament opener by a mammoth 200 runs.