New Zealand fights back in first ODI
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at the Rangiri International stadium in Dambulla today.
After electing to bat first, the Black caps were jolted early on by an inspired spell of new ball bowling by Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra. The duo found lateral movement on the wicket and exploited the situation to the fullest, making life extremely difficult for the batsmen.
The first blow was the departure of their stylish batsman Martin Guptill who perished to Kumar, edging an out swinger by the pacer to be snapped behind the stumps by Indian skipper Mahindra Singh Dhoni. The right hander scored 11 runs off only 6 balls, striking two fours in the process.
The next one to go was Ingram who perished for 12 runs. He also hit two boundaries in his innings.
Williamson, who was playing his debut match, was the next to go when he fell to Kumar without scoring. The right hander was extremely unlucky to get a peach of a ball that swung away from the bat at the last moment, clipping the off stump.
At this juncture, the Black Caps were rescued by a magnificent rearguard action led by the experienced duo of Scott Styris and Ross Taylor.
The two added 180 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team to a challenging total in their stay of 31 overs.
Scott Styris was in imperious touch, launching a brilliant counterattack, striking 9 fours and one six. His runs came off 95 balls.
Styris was dismissed by left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, but he had done enough to ensure a substantial total. He was followed by Captain Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 who scored 95 runs off 113 balls with the help of 8 fours and one six.
After their departure, the lower order ensured that the Black Caps post a big total with valuable contributions at the end of the innings.
None of the batsmen was able to get a big score. Yet, the likes of Jacob Oram, Gareth Hopkins and Darrel Tuffey chipped in with valuable boundaries to propel the New Zealanders to a big total. The tail wagged but they were bowled out before the end of their stipulated overs for a total of 288 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Praveen-Kumar-c82600 captured three wickets, setting the formidable Indian line-up a chase of 289 runs.
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