JOIN USGambhir special caps brilliant show by India
Having scripted India’s dominant eight-wicket win in the second one-dayer in Jaipur, the stand-in skipper stroked his way to another swashbuckling hundred as the hosts sealed the five-match series, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead here at the Reliance IPCL ground on Saturday.
Chasing New Zealand’s below par 224 for nine, India coasted to 229 for the loss of M Vijay in 39.3 overs, Gambhir remaining unbeaten on 126 (117b, 17x4). Virat Kohli’s purple patch too remained unaffected, the youngster helping himself to a 70-ball 63 (6x4, 2x6) and finishing off the proceedings with a massive six off Andy McKay.
New Zealand owed their modest total to a battling partnership between James Franklin (72 n.o., 108b, 5x4, 1x6) and Nathan McCullum (43, 53b, 4x4) after the Indian bowlers had reduced the visiting side to a pathetic 106 for seven. Zaheer Khan, returning after an injury lay-off, hit his straps straightaway, earning a wicket in his first over, while Munaf Patel was as parsimonious as ever. R Ashwin was impressive again with his variations while Yusuf Pathan reaped the reward of the pressure created by the pacers.
Be that as it may, the show once again belonged to Gambhir. The left-hander began by glancing the second ball of the chase from, Kyle Mills to the fine-leg fence and showed little let-up in intensity. Delectable cover-drives, cheeky flicks and audacious slashes cascaded from Gambhir’s willow as he reached 50 off just 30 balls.
In a repeat of Jaipur, the 28-year-old dominated the opening stand of 115, scoring 78 of them. He did slow down after Vijay’s run out (30), but only marginally. Gambhir and Kohli added 114 in 124 balls for the unbroken second wicket as India crossed the line without utilising two Power Plays.
Zaheer strikes
New Zealand failed to come to terms with tacky conditions in the morning as Zaheer, Munaf and to an extent Ashsih Nehra swung the ball to run through the top and middle-order. The pitch wasn’t anywhere near as diabolical as most of the Kiwi batsmen made it out to be. They showed remarkable lack of application which Franklin and Nathan exposed in abundance with a dogged but enterprising partnership.
Zaheer was unlucky not to add two more wickets on his comeback. The paceman’s personal loss benefitted New Zealand, Kane Williamson on one and Scott Styris on zero surviving strong lbw shouts as umpire Shahvir Tarapore didn’t find in any merit in Zaheer’s appeals. The two not only added 42 more runs to the total but also stemmed the free fall for a while.
Brendon McCullum’s return lasted just one ball while Martin Guptill ran himself out off a direct hit from Gambhir. Ross Taylor then played a rash shot off Zaheer only to manage an inside edge behind the wickets. After spending over an hour and facing 50 balls, Williamson failed to read an inswinging delivery from Munaf and this time umpire Richard Kettleborough of England was spot on. Styris, dropped on 15 by Pathan off Munaf, once again looked all set to bat New Zealand out of trouble but he found Yuvraj’s safe hands at leg-slip in his effort to work Ashwin to fine-leg.
Skipper Daniel Vettori and Gareth Hopkins perished soon and at 106 for seven by the 30th over, even a total in the vicinity of 150 appeared difficult. To their pleasant surprise, however, Franklin, replacing Tim Southee, put his head down and defied the Indian attack to carve his maiden one-day half-century. The all-rounder received an able ally in the older McCullum and, helped in no small measure by Gambhir’s decision to persist with Ravindra Jadeja even during the batting Power Play, the left-hander added a good 94 runs in 107 balls for the eighth wicket to provide some respectability to the total.