Sri Lanka Triangular Series: New Zealand Defeat India; Seal 200 Run Win
India’s series levelling win in the third and final Test match against Sri Lanka last week seems like eons ago, as the men in blue were thrashed by 200 runs in the opening match of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 Triangular Series by New Zealand at the Rangiri International stadium in Dambulla.
Batting first, the Black Caps recovered brilliantly from a dismal start to send the star-studded Indian line-up crashing to an ignominious defeat, which is one of the biggest in terms of runs in the 39 year history of the limited overs format.
The New Zealanders fielded a new look team led by Ross Taylor, who is captaining the team in the tournament as regular captain Daniel Vettori rests to recuperate from an injury.
The start was extremely poor for them, as Indian pacers Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar nipped out the first three batsmen with only 28 runs on the board.
The three batsmen who left back for the pavilion were Martin Guptill (11 off 6 balls), Peter Ingram (12 off 17 balls), and debutant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Praveen-Kumar-c82600 with the batsman yet to get off the mark.
At this juncture, the experienced duo of Ross Taylor and Scott Styris rescued the team with an intelligent batting display where caution was mixed with aggression.
The partnership for the fourth wicket was 190 runs, and was broken when Styris fell to a Pragyan Ojha delivery for 89 runs in a knock that included 9 fours and one six. Ross Taylor was dismissed soon afterwards, out lbw by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293; the right hander, regarded as the best New Zealand batsman in the current line-up, went five runs short of his century, having scored 95 off 113 balls with the help of 8 fours and one six.
The Black Caps were then helped by small but meaningful contributions from the lower half and tail-end batsmen, helping them reach a commanding total of 288 considering the tricky nature of the Dambulla wicket under lights, which are not rated amongst the best in the world.
For India, Nehra claimed four wickets while his new ball partner Praveen Kumar captured three Black Caps scalps. Yuvraj Singh and Pragyan Ojha took a wicket each.
The target of 289 runs was always going to be a challenging one for the Indians, considering the lateral movement that was available on the track under lights.
The New Zealand team was brilliantly served by their veteran pacer Daryl Tuffey, who was the star of the show, gaining exaggerated movement of the wicket at a decent pace and literally making the ball talk.
He removed the dangerous http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dinesh-c54134 Karthik early on (in the 8th over; he scored 14 runs off 20 balls) to rock the Indian ship before sending Rohit Sharma (4 off 11) and Suresh Raina (6 off 6 balls) back to the pavilion soon after.
He sealed the game for his team when he ran out the Indian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, who had attempted a risky single, leaving the men in blue tottering at 53/5 in the 14th over.
Tuffey was supported brilliantly by Kyle http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321 and Jacob Oram, who accounted for two batsmen each, while the rest of the seam attack also made full use of the conditions.
Andy McKay and Kane Williamson captured one scalp each for the victors.
The much vaunted Indian batting line-up fell like a pack of cards for an embarrassing total of 88 runs inside 30 overs.
The top scorer for them was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ravindra-c84236 Jadeja, who scored 20 off 44 balls, while Sehwag scored 19 runs.
New Zealand skipper Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 won a bonus point for their superlative performance, and are now at 5 points, with a fantastic start to what is now looking to be a thrilling series.
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