Seamers carry India into Final after Sehwag ton

Tags: Tri-Series in Sri Lanka - 2010, NZ v IND 6th Match at Dambulla - Aug 25, 2010, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Virender Sehwag, Nathan Leslie McCullum, Timothy Grant Southee, India, Praveenkumar Sakat Singh

Published on: Aug 25, 2010

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

India have entered into the Final of the Tri-Series after a thumping 105-run victory against New Zealand.

India have entered into the Final of the Tri-Series after a thumping 105-run victory against New Zealand. Having posted a healthy 223, the new ball pair of Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra left the Kiwi top order shaken up at 22 for 4 in the 9th over. From then onwards, it was all India taking full control of the game as the four pacers kept on hitting the seam and got the ball to dart around in both the directions.

New Zealand were bundled out in just 30.1 overs for 118. It would have been far worse than this but for an entertaining 52 from 35 balls (with 7 fours and 3 sixes) by Kyle Mills. The Kiwis at one stage were at 53 for 8 in the 23rd over! Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel took three wickets each while Nehra picked up 2 for 10 in 6.1 overs. Ishant Sharma also provided wonderful backup to sustain the pressure. Virender Sehwag was the Man of the Match for setting things up for India.

India Innings

India have been bowled out for 223 in 46.3 overs after winning the toss and batting first at Dambulla. If not for a 13th ODI hundred from Virender Sehwag, India wouldn't have got any runs on the board in this virtual Semi-Final match against New Zealand. India was in a mess at 66 for 4 in the 13th over and were looking to collapse yet again in this Tri-Series. However, Sehwag held the innings together along with Skipper MS Dhoni to provide a launching pad ahead of the slog overs.

Just when India was looking in a commanding position, Virender Sehwag got out caught at deep mid wicket in a slog sweep. Sehwag did his job though with his 110 which came in just 93 balls with 16 fours and a six. Sehwag lifted India from 66 for 4 to 173 for 5. The Indian Captain MS Dhoni failed to carry the innings forward after Sehwag and got caught behind in an expansive drive off Nathan McCullum. It was a slow 38 from 75 balls from the Indian Captain.

The innings saw a dramatic collapse after the Sehwag-Dhoni stand with the last six wickets falling in a heap for the addition of just the 50 runs in less than 15 overs. Tim Southee did most of the damage taking 4 for 49 in 10 overs while off spinner Nathan McCulum finished with a neat 10-0-35-3.

Toss and Teams

India won the toss and have elected to bat first in Match 6 of the Tri-Series against New Zealand at Dambulla. The team winning this contest will meet Sri Lanka in the Final. Both India and New Zealand have made changes to their line ups. India have brought in Virat Kohli and Munaf Patel for Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha. The Kiwis on the other hand have got in Martin Guptill, Tim Southee and Andy McKay for Peter Ingram, Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey.

India : KD Karthik, V Sehwag, V Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, SK Raina, MS Dhoni (C&WK), RA Jadeja, P Kumar, I Sharma, A Nehra, MM Patel

New Zealand : MJ Guptill, BJ Watling, LRPL Taylor (C), KS Williamson, SB Styris, GD Elliott, GJ Hopkins (WK), NL McCullum, KD Mills, TG Southee, AJ McKay

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