A
amber22
Guest
Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid were the three superheroes, who took India to a seven-wicket victory against the Kiwis in their final Super Six match at Centurion on Friday. It was a fitting reply by the Indians after their debacle in the New Zealand tour.
Sourav Ganguly surprised everybody as after winning the toss, he put the Kiwis to bat trusting the bowlers to do the job well. The bowlers surely made their captain proud as they dismissed the New Zealanders for a paltry total of 146 in 45.1 overs.
Zaheer struck in the very first over by getting two crucial wickets of Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle, thereby ruining all chances of New Zealand putting up a huge total.
Scott Styris (15) attempted a recovery with skipper Stephen Fleming but was soon dismissed by Ashish Nehra. Khan then bowled McCullum (4) thereby claiming his 100th wicket in One-Day Internationals. New Zealand were at the time 47 for four.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly kept changing his bowlers throughout the innings and the changes resulted in wickets.
Javagal Srinath in his second spell picked up the crucial wicket of Fleming, for 30 when he attempted a back foot shot only to offer a simple catch to Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. Next Cairns, having reached 20, attempted a cut shot to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh that resulted in a simple catch to Khan at backward point.
New Zealand were 88 for six and then the lower-order tried to do their best to build a decent total. They however managed to take the total beyond their worst score in World Cup games, the 112 against Australia.
Harbhajan ended with two for 28 off his 10 overs, while Srinath finished with 1 for 20 off his 8 overs. Nehra finished with 1 for 24 off 10 overs, while Zaheer secured the man of the match award for his superb spell of 4 for 42 off 8 overs, his career best figures.
In reply, India were expecting a good start but Shane Bond bowled New Zealand back into the game, to leave India 21 for three wickets.
India lost Virender Sehwag for one, Ganguly for three and Tendulkar for 15, but then things changed as McCullum lost a good opportunity as he dropped Rahul Dravid.
Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid batted sensibly and their confidence increased as their partnership progressed. Together they managed a 129-run partnership for the fourth wicket and secured the winning runs in style. Kaif achieved his fourth half-century in ODIs and finished unbeaten on 68, while Dravid was 53 not out having scored his 44th half-century.
India will now play Kenya in their semi-final next week, while New Zealand can now make to the semi-finals only if Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka on Saturday
Sourav Ganguly surprised everybody as after winning the toss, he put the Kiwis to bat trusting the bowlers to do the job well. The bowlers surely made their captain proud as they dismissed the New Zealanders for a paltry total of 146 in 45.1 overs.
Zaheer struck in the very first over by getting two crucial wickets of Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle, thereby ruining all chances of New Zealand putting up a huge total.
Scott Styris (15) attempted a recovery with skipper Stephen Fleming but was soon dismissed by Ashish Nehra. Khan then bowled McCullum (4) thereby claiming his 100th wicket in One-Day Internationals. New Zealand were at the time 47 for four.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly kept changing his bowlers throughout the innings and the changes resulted in wickets.
Javagal Srinath in his second spell picked up the crucial wicket of Fleming, for 30 when he attempted a back foot shot only to offer a simple catch to Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. Next Cairns, having reached 20, attempted a cut shot to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh that resulted in a simple catch to Khan at backward point.
New Zealand were 88 for six and then the lower-order tried to do their best to build a decent total. They however managed to take the total beyond their worst score in World Cup games, the 112 against Australia.
Harbhajan ended with two for 28 off his 10 overs, while Srinath finished with 1 for 20 off his 8 overs. Nehra finished with 1 for 24 off 10 overs, while Zaheer secured the man of the match award for his superb spell of 4 for 42 off 8 overs, his career best figures.
In reply, India were expecting a good start but Shane Bond bowled New Zealand back into the game, to leave India 21 for three wickets.
India lost Virender Sehwag for one, Ganguly for three and Tendulkar for 15, but then things changed as McCullum lost a good opportunity as he dropped Rahul Dravid.
Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid batted sensibly and their confidence increased as their partnership progressed. Together they managed a 129-run partnership for the fourth wicket and secured the winning runs in style. Kaif achieved his fourth half-century in ODIs and finished unbeaten on 68, while Dravid was 53 not out having scored his 44th half-century.
India will now play Kenya in their semi-final next week, while New Zealand can now make to the semi-finals only if Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka on Saturday
