Pathan leads India to five-wicket win over New Zealand in 4th ODI

Just a day after Gautam Gambhir said that Yusuf Pathan deserves more opportunities to express himself, the Baroda big-hitter lived up to the Indian skipper's faith.

Yusuf tided past a rain-interruption and made a mockery of an inflationary required-rate while his unbeaten 123 paved the way for India's five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the fourth One Day International of the five-match series at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday night.

Chasing New Zealand's 315 for seven in 50 overs, India finished with 321 for five in 48.5 overs to extend its series-lead to 4-0.

The pursuit was never easy after the law of averages caught up with Gambhir (27) and Virat Kohli. Briefly the Delhi-duo's dismissals seemed a minor aberration as Parthiv Patel (53) biffed around and Yuvraj Singh effortlessly hoisted Scott Styris.

Twin blow
India though suffered another twin-blow when Patel got ambitious and Yuvraj crunched a pull straight to short mid-wicket with Nathan McCullum being the grateful bowler.

Rohit Sharma, who replaced Murali Vijay in the eleven, then played with his customary elan and whetted his appetite with sixes off McCullum and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

Rohit (44) slotted the higher gears while Yusuf (123 n.o., 96b, 7x4, 7x6) preferred the supporting role until he revealed his blistering self with a mighty strike against Vettori.

True to his past of frittering away brisk starts, Rohit scooped Tim Southee straight to Vettori and just as Yusuf and Saurabh Tiwary were settling down, the match was grounded under a wet curtain.

The rain-stoppage lasted an hour but once play resumed with no reduction in overs, Yusuf muscled Vettori over the ropes and struck a massive six off Kyle Mills.

During the batting Power Play from overs 39-43, Yusuf briefly remained tentative against the seamers before he kept the fans in the upper tiers interested with mighty blows against Mills in an over that went for 21 runs.

Tiwary chips in
The tide had turned and an Indian victory seemed as inevitable as Yusuf's maiden ODI hundred that was ushered in with a swat off Andy McKay. In the match-winning unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 133 runs, Tiwary too found his voice towards the end.

Earlier, James Franklin's unbeaten 98 (69b, 12x4, 3x6) added flourish to New Zealand's steady tenure at the crease after Gambhir opted to field under overcast skies. Franklin's personal best in limited overs cricket was etched with shots straight down the park and his deft wrists often worked the ball into the gaps.

Walking in at 170 for four in 29.4 overs with Ross Taylor for company, Franklin continued unhindered despite edging a four in the initial minutes against part-timer Rohit.

Taylor (44) cut out the risks and put his hoick past mid-wicket in cold-storage and shockingly for New Zealand, he was out first ball of the batting Power Play taken from the 38th over. In trying to flick Ashwin, Taylor missed the line and the final thrust firmly rested on Franklin and he readily complied.

Cutting loose

The southpaw cut Yusuf (three for 48), square drove Zaheer Khan and lofted Ashish Nehra. Franklin survived a scare on 47 when he spooned a leading-edge but a diving Yusuf faltered. He then nervously reached his fifty, second in ODIs, as he chipped one over a scampering Yusuf at short covers.

Franklin then cut loose with the high-point being the 21 runs he plundered in the final over bowled by Nehra with a stirring sequence of 6, 6, 4, 4 and 1 to help New Zealand dream about a much-awaited victory.

Before Franklin soared, the visitor's innings was blotted by batsmen, ranging from Brendon McCullum (42) to Styris (46), who flattered to deceive against an Indian attack that failed to impose pressure.

Scoreboard

New Zealand: M. Guptill c Yuvraj b Nehra 30 (25b, 5x4), B. McCullum c Rohit b Ashwin 42 (42b, 8x4, 1x6), J. How c Yusuf b Nehra 4 (6b), R. Taylor lbw b Ashwin 44 (73b, 3x4), S. Styris c Tiwary b Yusuf 46 (48b, 3x4), J. Franklin (not out) 98 (69b, 12x4, 3x6), D. Vettori b Yusuf 16 (19b, 2x4), K. Mills b Yusuf 1 (6b), N. McCullum (not out) 13 (12b, 1x4); Extras (b-1, lb-8, w-12): 21; Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs): 315.

Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Guptill), 2-70 (How), 3-91 (McCullum), 4-170 (Styris), 5-210 (Taylor), 6-249 (Vettori), 7-251 (Mills).

Powerplays: One (Overs 1-10): 70/1; Bowling (11-15): 27/2; Batting (38-42): 36/1.
India bowling: Zaheer 8-0-40-0, Praveen 7-0-42-0, Ashwin 10-0-66-2, Nehra 9-1-70-2, Yuvraj 3-0-21-0, Yusuf 9-0-48-3, Rohit 4-0-19-0.

India: G. Gambhir c Guptill b McKay 27 (24b, 4x4), Parthiv c sub b N. McCullum 53 (57b, 8x4), V. Kohli c Mills b McKay 0 (2b), Yuvraj c How b N. McCullum 20 (28b, 1x4, 1x6), Rohit Sharma c Vettori b Southee 44 (48b, 4x4, 1x6), Yusuf Pathan (not out) 123 (96b, 7x4, 7x6), S. Tiwary (not out) 37 (39b, 3x4, 1x6). Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-8, nb-2): 17. Total (for five wkts., in 48.5 overs): 321.

Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Gambhir), 2-68 (Kohli), 3-103 (Yuvraj), 4-108

(Parthiv), 5-188 (Rohit).

Powerplays: One (Overs 1-10): 68/2; Bowling (11-15): 18/0; Batting (39-43): 44/0.

New Zealand bowling: Mills 10-1-65-0, Southee 10-0-64-1, McKay 7-0-63-2, McCullum 7.5-0-38-2, Styris 4-1-27-0, Vettori 10-0-57-0.

3rd ODI: Ton-up Gambhir wins India series

Skipper Gautam Gambhir cracked an unbeaten 126, his second century on the trot, to power India to a series-clinching nine-wicket victory over New Zealand in the third ODI here on Saturday.

The Delhi left-hander played a captain's knock that followed his match-winning unbeaten 138 in the second ODI in Jaipur on December 1 as India easily chased down the target of 225 in 39.3 overs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Gambhir, who smashed 16 boundaries with his flicks and drives in the 117 balls he faced, put on 115 runs for the opening wicket with Murali Vijay who made a slow 30 in 50 balls before being run out.

The solid foundation laid by Gambhir, who notched up his ninth ODI hundred in 103 matches, with Vijay was carried forward by number three Virat Kohli, who continued his form from where he left in the previous two matches.

Kohli, who had scored a match-winning ton at Guwahati and a half century in Jaipur, remained unbeaten on 63 in 70 balls with six fours and two sixes. He also hit the winning runs, a six over long on.

The second wicket duo of Gambhir and Kohli put on 114 runs in 125 balls without being separated to help the home team score a comprehensive victory in front of a weekend, capacity crowd.

Today's win, India's ninth successive ODI victory over New Zealand, left the remaining two matches in the five-match series in Bangalore (December 7) and Chennai (December 10) just mere contests of academic interest.

The hosts won the opening match at Guwahati by 40 runs and then took a 2-0 lead with a thumping eight-wicket victory in the second ODI in Jaipur.

Chasing New Zealand's modest score, built around James Franklin's unbeaten 72, India were on the offensive from the first ball thanks to Gambhir who raced to his 50 in only 30 balls with nine fours and then got his next 50 in 58 balls with the help of four fours.

He struck left arm Andy McKay for three successive fours after having dispatched the other new ball bowler Kyle Mills for two in as many balls previously.

The manner in which the 29-year-old Delhi player batted blew away any hopes New Zealand might have nurtured to come back into the match after posting a modest score when conditions were slightly in favour of the bowlers.

Earlier in the morning, another left-hander, James Franklin, led New Zealand's revival with an unbeaten half century and helped the visitors recover from a poor start to post a fighting score.

The visitors made a disastrous start by losing their openers within the first five overs and were struggling at 106 for seven before Franklin (72 not out) and Nathan McCullum staged the recovery act with a stand of 94.

Left-handed Franklin batted sensibly after coming in at 49 for 4 in the 16th over even as continued to tumble from the the other end.

He top-scored for the Black Caps with the help of five fours and one six in 108 balls while McCullum made 43 in 53 balls with four fours.

Their eighth-wicket stand off 107 balls took the score to 200 after the Kiwis had lost half their side for 77.

Apart from the eighth wicket pair, only opener Martin Guptill (12) and Scott Styris (22) reached the double figures in a largely uninspiring display put up by the Kiwis after they were asked to bat first by the hosts.

For India, Zaheer Khan (2/31), Yusuf Pathan (2/37 and R Ashwin (2/49) shared six wickets among them while Munaf Patel chipped in with one scalp.

The pitch for the match was a major surprise at a venue that normally provides flat tracks. There was a lot of bounce for the pace bowlers and bounce and turn for the spinners.

New Zealand batsmen, having played on low bouncing tracks after coming to India in early November, were undone by the extra bounce.

Zaheer Khan utilized the bounce to the fullest extent in his splendid first spell of seven overs as he made early inroads into the Kiwi top order.

Coming off after a three-week lay-off, the left-arm paceman struck in the second legal ball of his first over when he prised out danger man Brendon McCullum, who also came into the series after missing the opening two ties because of a back problem.

McCullum was caught in second slip by Murali Vijay off a rising ball that moved away a shade.

Munaf bowled tightly to return with one for 28 while spinners Yusuf Pathan and Ashwin did their but in the middle overs to claim 2 for 27 and 2 for 49 respectively.

When India batted, Gambhir straightaway got into his groove by singling out Mills for special treatment.

Though Vijay crawled at the other end, the aggressive approach by his captain ensured that the hosts were never put under any pressure.

*Source:- Cricketnext

India beat New Zealand in Guwahati ODI

Virat Kohli's sparkling century helped India script a 40-run win against an injury-hit New Zealand to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Chasing India's challenging score of 277 at the Nehru Stadium, New Zealand were short on experience with skipper Daniel Vettori and explosive opener Brendon McCullum missing out due to back injuries as the visitors were all out for 236 in 45.2 overs.

Stand-in skipper Ross Taylor top-scored for the Kiwis with a fighting 66 from 69 balls studded with three sixes and three boundaries.

Scorecard

At 169 for eight, New Zealand looked to give up easily but Nathan McCullum (35 from 35 balls, 4x4) and Kyle Mills (32 from 28 balls, 2x4, 2x6) produced a 67-run ninth wicket stand to give India some tough time in the middle.

But Sreesanth (three for 67) broke the partnership dismissing Nathan and Mills with te former being brilliantly caught by skipper Gambhir as India won the match with 28 balls to spare.

Under intense scrutiny, Yuvraj Singh failed with the bat but he was really effective with his bowling claiming three for 43 from his full quota of 10 overs, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a career-best three for 50 to help India take the series lead.

Thanks to a compact 105 by in-form Kohli, the new look Indian side under Gautam Gambhir put on 276 as they were bowled out in 49 overs after the hosts were sent in to bat.

Fresh from his back-to-back centuries in Ranji Trophy, the Delhi lad played a neat and chanceless knock from 104 balls with 10 boundaries for his second consecutive and fourth overall one-day century.

But Kohli's dismissal brought in a stunning Indian collapse as the lower-order managed 26 runs from last six overs something that exposed the new look side's inexperience at this level.

At 250/4 in the 44th over, with Kohli going great guns, a total in excess of 300 looked within easy reach but it was not the case after the centurion's dismissal by Andy McKay.

But New Zealand fought back with a planned and calculated bowling in the fag-end especially by left-arm seamer McKay who returned with a career-best figures of 10-1-62-4.

New ball bowlers Kyle Mills and Daryl Tuffey claimed three for 42 and two for 56 respectively.

With no McCullum, the New Zealand openers of Jamie How and Martin Guptill lacked the firepower as the visitors were slow and cautious to start with.

Nehra broke the opening stand for 32 scalping How (9) as his partner Guptill, after being dropped twice by Murali Vijay, did not last long departing for 30.

Stand-in skipper Taylor held the fort even as wickets kept falling in at the other end with Yuvraj doing a great job for India with his slow left-arm orthodox spin.

Taylor and Kane Williamson (19) looked good during their 67-run third wicket stand but Yuvraj did not let the partnership going.

Just when Taylor was beginning to look dangerous with his towering sixes, Ashwin gave the crucial breakthrough as New Zealand were reduced to 154 for seven after 33.3 overs.

Earlier Kiwi new ball bowlers, Mills and Tuffey, extracted some fine seam movements early on as openers Vijay (29 from 32 balls, 5x4) and Gambhir (38 from 38 balls, 6x4) survived some anxious moments in the early morning start.

The Indian duo however did not look under any pressure in absence of Virender Sehwag as they stitched 44 for the opening wicket before Vijay was done in by Tuffey with wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins taking a brilliant catch running backwards.

Kohli settled soon his second-wicket partnership of 48 did not last long with Gambhir falling in a soft dismissal to McKay.

Due for a big knock, Yuvraj was slow and watchful to start that saw India scoring just 17 in the five overs in the bowling powerplay from 10-15 overs.

Having consumed 28 balls for his first eight runs, Yuvraj opened up to the New Zealand spin attack that missed Vettori sorely as Nathan McCullum and Kane Williamson bowled their conventional off-breaks.

Kohli, meanwhile, raced to his ninth half-century in a rather nondescript way but he ensured that they were on track for a big total.

In their 88-run stand for the third wicket, Kohli was compact and flexible in rotating the strike while Yuvraj looked to score in boundaries before he edged one behind the stumps.

India look to nail Kiwis in ODI series

A jaded Suresh Raina (13, 1x4) continued with his poor Test run into the ODIs, as the southpaw lasted 18 balls before becoming Mills' victim.

After Kohli's dismissal for 250 in the last ball of 44th over, the Indian inexperience showed as the lower order collapsed.

Yusuf Pathan played a cameo of 29 from 19 balls laced with three fours and one six, as debutant Wriddhiman Saha (4), Ravichandran Ashwin (0), Ashish Nehra (0) and Sreesanth (1) were dismissed cheaply.

But the total was enough to rattle New Zelanders who missed their regular skipper Vettori and opener McCullum badly to trail in the five-match series 0-1.

India have rested their star performers including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh who were not considered due to injury concerns.

India Vs New Zealand - Harbhajan hits second century in a row

India's Harbhajan Singh became the first number eight batsman in the world to score centuries in successive matches during the second Test against New Zealand.

The feisty tailender on Monday rattled up seven sixes and seven fours in his unbeaten 111-run knock off 114 balls to take India's first-innings to 472 for a lead of 122 runs before New Zealand reached 37-0 at lunch. Tim McIntosh was batting on 18 with Brendon McCullum (15) at the break on the fourth day of the match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.

Harbhajan notched up his maiden Test century last week to help India salvage a draw in the opener against the Kiwis in Ahmedabad. His feat surpasses the record of New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori who scored 140 and 99 batting at number eight in back-to-back Tests last year.

The Punjab player added 105 runs for the last wicket with Shanthakumaran Sreesanth who also defied the New Zealand attack for close to two hours before being trapped leg before wicket off Vettori.

Sreesanth made 24 off 71 balls with three fours. It was Harbhajan again who dominated the proceedings in the morning session, lofting Vettori for a straight six and following it up with another off Tim Southee (3-119) that landed in the stands.

Vettori picked his 19th five-wicket haul in Tests and finished as the most successful New Zealand bowler with figures of 5-135. The visitors started off confidently in their second innings with McCullum and first-innings centurion McIntosh negotiating 13 testing overs with ease.

India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan left the field midway through his fifth over after apparently picking an injury and the remaining three balls were bowled by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.