JAIPUR, India, (Reuters) – Captain Gautam Gambhir compiled a flawless century to guide India to a resounding eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second one-day international yesterday.
Chasing a 259-run victory target, opener Gambhir struck an unbeaten 138 from 116 balls, his eighth ODI century, as the hosts reached their target with seven overs to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Gambhir dominated an 87-run opening partnership with Murali Vijay (33) to set the tone for the chase. But it was his 116-run stand with the in-form Virat Kohli (64) for the second wicket which took the match away from New Zealand’s grasp.
Wary of the dew factor, Gambhir asked New Zealand to bat and the Kiwis reached a respectable 258 for eight, a total built around half-centuries from Martin Guptill (70) and Scott Styris (59).
New Zealand lost opener Jamie How (5) in the fourth over to Shanthakumaran Sreesanth but Guptill and Styris added 65 runs for the fourth wicket and the tourists notched another couple of half-century partnerships to go past the 250-mark.
Sreesanth (four for 47) removed Styris and captain Daniel Vettori (31), who returned after missing the first match in Guwahati with a back injury, off successive deliveries but was denied a hat-trick by Nathan McCullum.
Vadodara hosts the third match on Saturday.
Scoreboard
India lead the five-match series 2-0
New Zealand innings:
M. Guptill c Saha b Ashwin 70
J. How c Saha b Sreesanth 5
K. Williamson b Patel 29
R. Taylor c Kohli b Pathan 15
S. Styris c Saha b Sreesanth 59
D. Vettori b Sreesanth 31
G. Hopkins not out 11
N. McCullum run out 12
K. Mills b Sreesanth 13
T. Southee not out 2
Extras (lb-5, w-6) 11
Total (eight wickets; 50 overs) 258
Did not bat: A. McKay
Fall of of wickets: 1-14 2-64 3-96 4-161 5-219 6-219 7-243 8-256.
Bowling: Nehra 9-1-45-0, Sreesanth 9-1-47-4, Patel 8-0-34-1(w-2), Ashwin 10-0-52-1(w-1), Yuvraj 9-1-48-0(w-3), Pathan 4-0-23-1, Raina 1-0-4-0.
India innings:
M. Vijay b Vettori 33
G. Gambhir not out 138
V. Kohli c Taylor b McKay 64
Yuvraj Singh not out 16
Extras (w-8) 8
Total (two wickets; 43 overs) 259
Did not bat: S. Raina, Y. Pathan, W. Saha, R. Ashwin, A. Nehra, S. Sreesanth, M. Patel.
Fall of wickets: 1-87 2-203.
Bowling: McCullum 9-0-37-0 (w-1), Mills 7-0-49-0, McKay 7-0-59-1 (w-2), Styris 3-0-20-0, Vettori 8-0-32-1, Southee 5-0-33-0 (w-2), Williamson 4-0-29-0.
