http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 v New Zealand ODI series: Indian bowlers wipe out Kiwi batting line-up
India defeated New Zealand by nine wickets at the Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the fifth match of the ODI series between the two countries. With this victory, India sealed a series whitewash against the Kiwis.
Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and elected to bat first on the flat pitch, which he probably believed would assist his batsmen in playing the spinners. But the decision did not turn out to be a good one: New Zealand was
in trouble from the word go, when in-form opener Martin Guptill was dismissed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915, the top six batsmen made double-figure starts
but failed to capitalize on them. Scott Styris was the top-scorer for New Zealand with 24 runs, as the Kiwis – after struggling throughout the innings – were bowled out for only 103 runs in 27 overs.
The Indians had bowled tightly, forming impressive bowling partnerships, and had not given New Zealand any opportunity they could take advantage of. Ravi Ashwin picked up three wickets and impressed with his variation. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293,
Yousaf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh picked up two wickets each, whereas Praveen Kumar took one wicket. All the Indian bowlers bowled well, but New Zealand should probably be feeling embarrassed about giving four crucial wickets to the part-time spin of Yuvraj Singh
and Yousaf Pathan in only five overs.
When it was their turn to bowl, the Kiwis started off with interesting tactics: the new ball was taken up by spinners from both ends. Nathan McCullum got rid of the dangerous Gautam Gambhir in the very first over of the innings
when his younger brother Brendon took a catch off his bowling. The Kiwis got another breakthrough when captain Daniel Vettori dismissed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 in the fourth over. At that stage, the score was 10 for the loss of two wickets and New Zealand saw a glimmer
of hope. But wicketkeeper-batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Parthiv-Patel-c2159 and Yuvraj Singh made sure that India would not face any more hiccups in the innings, as both of them accumulated 97 runs in their third-wicket partnership and secured an easy victory for the home team in the
22nd over.
Parthiv Patel scored an unbeaten 56 of 70 balls, in which he struck six fours and a six. Yuvraj Singh scored 42 of 46 balls, which included six fours and a couple of sixes.
The series whitewash is an ominous sign for New Zealand, with the World Cup only two-and-a-half months away. The Kiwis have now lost nine ODIs in a row. Even more worryingly, four of those nine matches were against cricketing minnows,
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 team to put up a better fight.
But the young Indian team, led by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623, did not give anything away and pulled off a clean-sweep. This is a very healthy sign for Indian cricket, which has flourished since the creation of the Indian Premier League in
2008.
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