India vs. NZ, 3rd Test: India bulldoze New Zealand en-route to a series win at Nagpur
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 reminded the cricketing world that they are the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world for a reason as they tore through the resistance by the New Zealanders in the third and final Test match at Nagpur to record a 1-0 series
win.
The first two Tests of the series were drawn with the tourists sharing the honours and fighting every inch of the way; however, it eventually proved to be too tough for them to make it three in a row as the hosts pulverised them
with a clinical performance.
Resuming at the overnight score of 24/1, the tourists caved in without a great deal of fight on the fourth day of the Test match.
They folded for 175 runs to hand the hosts a commanding innings and 198 runs win, one of the biggest wins in Indian Test history.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 captain Daniel Vettori was a dejected man after the defeat; he told the media that it was the abject batting failure in the first innings that contributed to the surrender.
"I can only look at the overall performance and say it was poor in this Test as compared to the first two Tests," Vettori said. "We were exceptional then because we grinded it out and put in good performances. In this part of the
world, the first-innings runs keep you in the game, and then it's up to your bowling attack to take wickets but that didn't happen here. I think after winning the toss, scoring just 193 put us under a lot of pressure.
"We bowled so well and took three wickets but couldn't capitalise on that. Dhoni and Dravid played exceptionally well. There were lots of niggles for us but I think India showed us how to bat, especially in this Test."
On the other hand, Indian captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni was all praise for his team; he feels that they are now well equipped for the three Test match series against the South Africans in their backyard.
Dhoni thinks that reaching there a couple of weeks before the start of the Test series would help in building up for what the Indian media is billing as the “Final Frontier” for Dhoni’s men.
"There are plenty of players who have toured South Africa before, so gaining information from them will be really important. But it will be a team effort. And as a team, we will have to do the basics right." It [going early] will
definitely be good, especially for batsmen, as the bounce there is really different," he said. "What you need to play in India, you need to leave in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. Of course, the bowlers also need a bit of time, but it is the batsmen who need the extra few
days, if it's possible."
Meanwhile, the Indian bowlers had a field day as they bowled well collectively to dismantle the tourists on day four.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ishant-Sharma-c64566 and man of the series Harbhajan Singh claimed three wickets apiece while left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took a brace to roll over the Black Caps.
Harbhajan Singh had a memorable series, scoring more than three hundred runs courtesy of two back-to-back hundreds.
He also claimed 10 wickets, most of them at crucial times in the series to outfox the touring batsmen.
All in all, the series would not be a major disappointment for Vettori and his team as they were up against the best team in the world, and a 1-0 defeat is by no means humiliating.
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