Jesse Ryder continued his smooth drive in the series and took the Indians for a ride, a bumpy one undoubtedly. Three wickets to wreck the famed Indian batting line-up followed by 63 blazing runs set it up for New Zealand perfectly.
Very appropriately, the burly NZ opener was awarded the man of the match prize for his 63 and 3/29. India created history when they had wrapped up the series in Hamilton, their first series victory in New Zealand. India won the National Bank Series 3-1.
Carrying on after Ryder’s swinging willow was stopped by Ishant Sharma, Martin Guptill finished the New Zealand innings in style with a whack to the boundary off Sharma. The penultimate delivery was hit for a maximum. The Black Caps emerged winners by 8 wickets after the Indians were given a taste of the taste of their own medicine, that of power hitting.
Team India seemed to have left everything on the explosive Virender Sehwag who had continued in the ‘Hamilton fashion’ before he was dismissed for 40 off 27 deliveries. It was complete Kiwi invasion there after with the other warrior for India being Rohit Sharma who remained unbeaten on 43. For the visitors, the only other batsman to have touched the double figures was Yuvraj Singh (11). It was only a matter of time before India were wrapped up for a meagre 149 in 36.3 overs.
The ODI series was affected by rain for the fourth time in the series but thankfully only 7 overs-a-side was lost when the play was delayed due to heavy showers.
It was only a matter of time for New Zealand to emerge victorious after Jesse Ryder went all berserk thumping the Indian attack out of the Eden Park in Auckland. After Brendon McCullum’s early departure, Ryder and Martin Guptill joined hands to put up an 84 run partnership before Ishant Sharma induced an inside edge off Ryder’s bat only for the bails to be taken off. Guptill (57) and Ross Taylor (28) too freed their arms in the end to prepare for the Test series in grand fashion.
This sure was a consolation victory but undoubtedly an important one for the Kiwis. They will be pretty confident finishing the otherwise disappointing ODI series on a high. The Black Caps would now have restored faith in their capabilities after being spanked to all corners in the first three (completed) matches of the National Bank ODI series. Coming to terms with reality, the 50-50 format has come to an end and India have created history winning their first ODI series on New Zealand soil. It will be a new day on the first morning of the Test series and the team that plays well will create ripples.
India are sure to get the boost with the return of Test format mavericks Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
The Test series begins March 18 at Seddon Park, Hamilton. India have not won a Test series in New Zealand for 41 years now. We all hope history is recreated and India emerges victorious in the Test series too. For that, however, we will have to wait and watch…
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