India spank New Zealand, romp into final of tri-series

T V Sriram
Dambulla (Sri Lanka), Aug 25 (PTI) India relied on
Virender Sehwag's swashbuckling century and an inspired show
of swing bowling to spank New Zealand by 105 runs and cruise
into the final of the cricket tri-series here Wednesday.
While the flamboyant Sehwag (110) notched up his 13th ODI
century to steer India to a competitive 223 after four early
jolts, the pace bowlers than came up with fine exhibition of
swing and control to skittle out the Kiwis for 118 in 30.1
overs.
Tailender Kyle Mills provided some late entertainment
with a rollicking 52 but none of the other New Zealand batsman
could provide much resistance as the Indians exploited the
bowling-friendly conditions to the hilt to set up a summit
showdown with Sri Lanka on Saturday.
The Indians, who desperately needed to win the floodlit
contest to stay afloat, owed their victory to the brilliance
of Sehwag who gave them enough runs on the board to push for a
win on a tricky pitch at the Rangiri international stadium.
Chasing 224 for win, The Kiwis found the going tough
under lights as the Indian speedsters extracted a lot of swing
to virtually rip through the top-order.
Praveen Kumar struck the first blow for the Indians by
dismissing opener Martin Guptill for a first ball duck,
trapping him leg before with a gem of a delivery.
Ashish Nehra then removed the other opener Bradley-John
Watling with a big inswinger. Watling plays it onto the stumps
as he looked to steer clear of the delivery.
The Kiwis suffered a big jolt when their captain Ross
Taylor was dismissed by Kumar, who really looked impressive as
he troubled all the batsmen with swing.
Taylor fell prey to a lovely outswinger as he hung his
bat out and edged the ball to Dhoni behind the stumps, leaving
New Zealand tottering at 14 for three.
Kumar added another wicket to his kitty soon when he
bowled Scot Styris while Ishant Sharma evicted Kane Williamson
to compound the misery for the Kiwis.
Reduced to a precarious 42 for six by the 17th over, it
was only a matter of time before the innings folded up, though
Mills hit some lusty shots in the fag end to reduce the margin
of defeat.
Earlier, barring Sehwag, none of the other Indian batsmen
could really get going though captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
(38) played a good supporting role.
Tim Southee (4/49) was the pick of the Kiwis bowlers
though he was a trifle expensive. Spinner Nathan McCullum
(3/35) and Kyle Mills (2/42) were the other wicket-taking
bowlers.
The Indian innings began on a disastrous note with Dinesh
Karthik, who has been in woeful form right through the series,
returning to the pavilion in the very first over off Kyle
Mills. More PTI