Yet another one sided encounter in Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, this time it is New Zealand who was at receiving end after folding out for just 118 runs in pursuit off 224 runs for victory set by the Indians. In this game only one man able to dictate the term with the bat and it was no other than Virendra Sehwag who scored 110 runs off just 93 balls to not only helped his team to post a testing target in front of New Zealand but also sent signal to his team mates that why experts rate him so high in the modern era. On a pitch where all Indian and New Zealand batsmen failed to get bat to bowl, Sehwag stood there and played a brilliant inning in which he hit 16 fours and one huge six. At 61/4 after electing to bat first on a fresh wicket, it looked like India will once again folded out cheaply, but thanks to superb partnership between Sehwag and M.S.Dhoni (38 runs off 75 balls) of 107 runs for the fifth wicket which not only helped India to reach a challenging total but also in the end became the turning point in today’s game. Besides Sehwag, Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja were the only three batsmen to reach double figures as the Indian middle order comprising Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli struggled once again, accumulating only 15 runs between them. Chasing the target of 224 for victory, the kiwis bundled out for 118 runs in 30.1 overs thanks to Tailender Kyle Mills (52 runs of 35 balls) which not only helped his team from crossing the 100 runs mark but also saved them from embarrassing defeat from 53/8. The Kiwis found the going tough under lights as the Indian speedsters extracted a lot of swing to virtually rip through the top-order. In a matter of hours of play New Zealand were looking down the barrel at 53/8 in 23rd over. Apart from Mills, only K.Williamson (13 runs), G.Elliot (11 runs) and T.Southee (10 runs) were double figure contributor to the New Zealand scorecard. V.Sehwag was declared Player of the Match his match winning knock of 110 runs off 93 balls. Match Summary (India Won by 105 Runs) India– 223/10 in 46.3 Overs V.Sehwag- 110 M.S.Dhoni– 38 T.Southee- 10-2-49-4 N.McCullum– 10-0-35-3 New Zealand– 118/10 in 30.1 Overs K.Mills- 52 K.Willimason– 13 M.Patel- 7-1-21-3 P.Kumar– 8-2-34-3 |
