In a dull match bereft of significant batting pyrotechnics, India showed impeccable discipline to chase down the modest 156-run victory target with aplomb and nearly 10 overs to spare. [break]
For them, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came up with useful knocks as they cruised to 156 for four in 40.3 overs, sending the Kiwis out of the tournament after their second successive defeat. Opting to bat first in the must-win game, New Zealand had earlier folded for 155 in 46.3 overs with Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh mowing down the top and middle order.
Skipper Daniel Vettori topscored with 25, while Jacob Oram contributed 24. This win keeps alive India’s hopes of becoming the number one ODI side in the world by clean sweeping the tri-nation tournament and renders their tomorrow’s match against Sri Lanka inconsequential. For India, the target was not intimidating but the conditions did not ideal for the stroke-makers and runs were not easy to come by.
Depleted by the absence of regular openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, India sent Dinesh Karthik to open the innings with Tendulkar but the ploy did not click. Kyle Mills trapped Karthik (4) in the third over even though the ball seemed missing the leg stump.
Tendulkar and comeback man Rahul Dravid added 60 runs to calm the nerves but the run rate was nothing home to write about. Dravid’s ODI return did not prove memorable as he fell to Jacob Oram after a 45-ball 14. Tendulkar, however, looked at ease and inching towards a well-deserved half-century when he chipped a Daniel Vettori delivery to the cover field and fell four-run shy of the mark.
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