India don't (Ki)win (Azharudd)in Taupo

It was the first One-day International match of the year for the Indians, and the first time the city of Taupo was hosting an international match (which was attended by 12,000 people). It was New Zealand’s eight venue (after Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, Napier and New Plymouth), and the 122^nd worldwide.

India made three changes to their playing eleven – Ajit Agarkar, Sunil Joshi and Anil Kumble made way for Rahul Dravid, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Venkatesh Prasad. New Zealand made three changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Bryan Young, Nathan Astle and Paul Wiseman made way for Roger Twose, Gavin Larsen and Simon Doull. Mohammad Azharuddin, India's skipper, won the toss, inserting the hosts.

Tendulkar, who faced five balls, didn’t get off the mark. Thirteen ballS(ach)into the match, he was caught by Chris Harris. Chris Cairns broke the three-run stand. Sourav Ganguly, whose 88-ball innings included seven boundaries, scored 60. A hundred and forty balls later, he was caught by Larsen. Daniel Vettori broke the 113-run partnership.

Dravid, the player of the match, scored 123. His run-a-ball innings included 10 boundaries and the only six of the innings. He was unbeaten. He and Ganguly put on 50 for the second wicket off 58 balls in 44 minutes, and 100 off 126 balls off 88 minutes.

Azharuddin, who faced 22 balls, scored nine. Forty-five balls later, Larsen broke the 28-run stand. Ajay Jadeja, who faced 17 balls, scored 10. Twenty-eight balls later, he was caught by Harris, who broke the 19-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair put on 60. Singh, whose 31-ball (Rob)innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 27. Fifty-one balls later, Dion Nash ran him out. Kanitkar, whose 14-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 17. He was unbeaten.

New Zealand conceded 11 extras. India scored 257 for the loss of wickets off 50 overs. Craig McMillan, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 16. Doull bowled seven wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 34. Nash, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded 42.

Vettori, who bowled five overs, conceded 26. He picked up a wicket. Cairns, who bowled eight overs, conceded 53. He picked up a wicket. Larsen and Harris bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 46, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 35.

Twose, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. Seventeen balls later, he was caught by Nayan Mongia. Javagal Srinath broke the 21-run stand. Matt Horne, whose 62-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 57. A hundred and nine balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Tendulkar, who broke the 105-run partnership.

McMillan, whose 76-ball innings included eight boundaries, scored 73. Fifty-two balls later, he was caught by Ganguly. Srinath broke the 40-run stand. His half-century – which included all his boundaries – came off 42 balls in 63 minutes.

A lighting tower blew a fuse at 8:56pm. As a result, a circuit breaker had to be replaced, delaying the resumption in play for almost 50 minutes. Drinks were taken upon stoppage of play. At that point, New Zealand had scored 168 for the loss of three wickets off 30.4 overs. Eleven overs were deducted based on a rate of one over per 4.2 minutes lost.

New Zealand’s target was revised to 200 off 39 overs (using the Duckworth-Lewis method) – 32 runs off the remaining 8.2 overs. Cairns, whose 31-ball innings included the only six of the innings, scored 23. Nine balls after McMillan's dismissal (and three balls after play resumed), he was caught by Srinath. Singh broke the two-run stand.

Adam Parore, whose 23-ball innings included a boundary, scored 16. He was unbeaten. The fifth-wicket pair put on 26. Harris, whose 23-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. Thirty-eight balls later, Azharuddin ran him out. Nash, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

India conceded seven extras. New Zealand, who scored 200 for the loss of five wickets off 38 overs, won by five wickets with an over to spare. Kanitkar, who bowled two wicketless overs, conceded 12.

Prasad and Nikhil Chopra bowled eight wicketless overs apiece. While the former, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 41, the latter conceded 37.

Singh, who bowled four overs, conceded 36. He picked up a wicket, as did Tendulkar, who bowled eight overs, conceding 34. Srinath, who bowled eight overs, conceded 35. He picked up a couple of scalps.

New Zealand led the five-match series 1-0.