India take an unassailable lead after a mini-scare by Cricketarchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	New Zealand v India
Player:	SR Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, JD Ryder, BB McCullum, JDP Oram
Event:	India in New Zealand 2008/09

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DateLine: 8th March 2009

 

The AMI Stadium in Christchurch witnessed a rain of sixes as batsmen after batsmen pounded the bowlers into submission.. A majestic century Sachin Tendulkar was followed by a brutal one from Ryder as he demolished the Indian attack with monstrous hits. The regularity at which the ball flew over the ropes reduced the bowlers to just bowling machines under the will of the batsmen. India scored a massive 392 in their fifty overs while New Zealand in reply made challenging 334. Regular New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori withdrew from the match a few hours before the toss to return home and be with his wife who was due to give birth, with Brendon McCullum taking over the captaincy.

 

Earlier in the day Sachin Tendulkar belted an outstanding 163 before retiring hurt as India made 392 for four batting first against New Zealand in the third one-day cricket international. Tendulkar received a standing ovation as he left the field. New Zealand needed to win this match to keep alive their chance of taking the five-match series, and seeing the grass on the pitch elected to bowl at the Indians first up. They had success early on when Virender Sehwag, India's dangerman in their previous matches, was dismissed for only three and India were one for 15 in the third over.

 

But India after the early setback hammered the hapless Kiwi bowlers into submission that they could only watch in amazement as Tendulkar set the pace, while Yuvraj Singh chimed in with 87 and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni added 68. The impact of attacking batting was so much that 20-year-old New Zealand quick Tim Southee went for a humbling none for 105 off 10 overs. The most successful of the New Zealand bowlers was Kyle Mills with two for 58, while Jacob Oram took none for 34 off eight.

 

Before the game, New Zealand had singled out Sehwag as the crucial wicket, but once he went in the third over, and Gautam Gambhir followed for 15 in the 13th, India stepped up to a level New Zealand had no answer for. Yuvraj joined Tendulkar and they piled on 138 in 16.4 overs for the third wicket. During the batting power play they added 69 runs with overs of 13, 13, 12, 17 and 14, propelling India from 105 after 20 overs to 206 after 30. Yuvraj kept his running to a minimum, with 10 boundaries and six sixes in his 87 which came off only 60 balls.

 

On a ground with short boundaries, the Indian innings produced 18 sixes in all, equalling the world record for an international. Tendulkar contributed five of them and also clouted 16 fours with his 163 coming from 133 balls. When Yuvraj fell, caught behind by Peter McGlashan off Grant Elliott, Dhoni came to the wicket to keep the momentum going with 68 from 58 deliveries before he top-edged Mills to give McGlashan his second catch.

 

The New Zealand innings started with a flurry of shots as Ryder and McCullum put on a massive 166 for the first wicket and the Indians did not know what had hit them. The Kiwi slide started when captain Brendon McCullum was run out. Jesse Ryder flicked to mid-wicket and went for a quick single, Suresh Raina came in swiftly and threw the ball back to Dhoni to run out McCullum who hit 3 sixes and 6 fours in his superb 68-ball 71. The Kiwis lost their second wicket when Ross Taylor (7) padded to short fine leg and ran for a single, but Ryder refused, Yuvraj Singh made a flat return and Mahendra Singh Dhoni flicked the ball back on to the stump to make it 179/2.

 

In the next over, Yuvraj took the third Kiwi wicket when he trapped Martin Guptill (1) plumb in front of the wicket. Harbhajan Singh took the prized wicket of Ryder in the next over when he had him caught at long off by Zaheer. The stocky Kiwi opener hit his maiden ODI century enroute 105 off 80 balls with the help of 4 sixes and 12 fours. Harbhajan struck again when Jacob Oram (7) edged a delivery onto his stumps to put India firmly in command. Zaheer then took two wickets in three balls in his second spell. He first shattered the stumps of Grant Elliott (18) by a superb yorker and a ball later, clean bowled Peter McGlashan (7). Yuvraj took his second wicket when he clean bowled Ian Butler (24) to reduce the Kiwis to 251/8.

 

Mills and Southee came together at the crease when the Kiwis were tottering at 251/8 in 38 overs. That the Kiwis came close to upsetting India were because of some senseless bowling by Munaf Patel and some superb batting by Kyle Mills. With a partnership of 83 runs, Kyle Mills and Tim Southee almost looked like taking their team to victory with Munaf conceding 79 runs off his 7.2 overs. He was forced to be taken out of the attack because he bowled 2 waist-high full toss deliveries in one over and that worked in India's favour. Yusuf Pathan, filling in for Munaf, broke the Mills-Southee partnership by having Mills caught at short fine leg by Zaheer Khan. Mills hit 3 sixes and 6 fours in his 32-ball 54. Praveen Kumar finished the Kiwi innings in the next over, by taking a simple return catch to dismiss Southee who scored 32 runs off 20 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 3 fours.