Sachin Tendulkar inning of 163 of 133 balls which included 16 fours and 5 sixes helped India to beat New Zealand by 58 runs and take unbeatable lead of 2-0 in five match ODI series.
With the help of Sachin Tendulkar India able to compiled a mammoth total of 392/4 in their 50 overs. This was Sachin Tendulkar first century on New Zealand soil and 43rd of his career.
In reply, New Zealand opener B.McCullum (71 runs of 68 balls) and J.Ryder (105 runs of 80 balls) started at brisk pace and went on to put 166 runs in just 22 overs for the first wicket.
The brisk start by openers gave New Zealand hope of chasing a stiff target of 393 runs. However a middle order collapse and some dreadful running between the wickets reduced New ZealandIndia looks on verge of winning the game quite easily. However lower order batsman gave New Zealand another hope of reaching the target. score from 166/0 to 251/8 in the space of 16 overs. At that stage
However Kyle Mills (54 runs of 32 balls) and Tim Southee (32 runs of 20 balls) went on to put 83 runs in just 42 balls to gave New Zealand another hope of getting the target. But real drama came in the 45th over bowled by Munaf Patel. His first delivery was hit for six over long off by K.Mills to reach his first fifty in ODI’s, second delivery was called no ball because of high full toss on which K.Mills was caught and fourth delivery was again called no ball bowled by M.Patel to same batsman and again he was caught by M.S.Dhoni and then umpire R.Koertzen decided to take Munaf Patel out of the attack.
M.S.Dhoni has no other option than throwing ball to Yusuf Pathan he did it for his team by removing dangerous looking K.Mills in his four over spell and conceded just a single. On the very first ball of 46th over bowled by P.Kumar wrapped up the match by removing T.Southee.
New Zealand batting was also helped by some poor catching by the Indians. They drop as many as three easy straight forward chances. First it was M.S.Dhoni who dropped J.Ryder when he was on 45 on the bowling of M.Patel. In the very next over Yusuf Pathan dropped the catch of B.McCullum when he was on 38 runs on the bowling of Zaheer Khan. And in the end S.Raina dropped K.Mills on the bowling of Z.Khan to allow New Zealand to reach closer to Indian total.
Earlier New Zealand acting captain B.McCullum won the toss and put India on to bat, with the ball moving around V.Sehwag and G.Gambhir found difficulty in get going as India lost two quick wickets with just 65 runs on the board. However Yuvraj Singh who was so far silent on the tour with the bat came all guns blazing and smashed a quick fire 87 runs of just 60 balls to not only bring India back on track but also set the platform for other batsman to follow to capitalize on the momentum.
Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar put on 138 runs of just 101 balls for the third wicket before Yuvraj got out in the 30th over of Indian innings. He missed his century by thirteen runs. Dismissal of Yuvraj did not bothered Tendulkar as he continued to play in the same manner and was well on course of breaking his own record of highest score in ODI which is also against New Zealand, but due to injury he has to retired hurt in the 45th over of an Indian innings for 163 runs.
B.McCullum who is captaining the side for the first time found difficult going against the famed Indian batting lineup as his all bowler hammered all around the shorter AMI Stadium. K.Mills bowled brilliantly and picked up two crucial wickets of dangerous Sehwag and Dhoni conceding just 58 runs in his 10 over spell.
The match produced a total of 726 runs, the second-highest aggregate in one-day cricket internationals, eclipsed only by the 872 runs scored by Australia and South Africa in 2006. So many records tumbled today at AMI Stadium.
Indian team went on to equal the record of Most Sixes in an inning in ODI by any team that is 18 sixes. The previous records was made by South Africa (18 sixes in an inning against Netherlands), India (18 sixes against Bermuda in World Cup 2007) and by New Zealand (18 sixes in an inning against Ireland).
In total there were 31 sixes hit in todays’ match which is now world record of total number of sixes hit in a match. The previous record were made in the match between South Africa and Australia at Johanseburg in record breaking game in which South Africa chased down 434 to won the match.
Sachin Tendulkar is declared Man of the Match for his inning of 163 runs of 133 balls.
