RA(zharudd)in leaves the IndiaNZ disappointed

India made no changes to their playing eleven. New Zealand made a couple of changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Simon Doull and Shayne O'Connor made way for Bryan Young and Daniel Vettori. On winning the toss, Mohammad Azharuddin, India's skipper, inserted the Kiwis.

Young, whose 51-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 23. Ninety-two balls into the match, Anil Kumble broke the 65-run partnership. Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s skipper, faced 13 balls, scoring five. Eighteen balls later, he was caught by Venkatesh Prasad. Harbhajan Singh broke the eight-run stand.

Craig McMillan, whose 36-ball (Sach)innings included a boundary, scored 23. Sixty-eight balls later, he was caught by Ajay Jadeja. Tendulkar broke the 49-run stand. Nathan Astle, whose 119-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 81. Seventy-seven balls later, he was caught by Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Harbhajan broke the 63-run partnership.

Matt Horne, whose 46-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 44. Twenty-three balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Venkatesh Prasad, who broke the 19-run stand. Adam Parore, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Ajit Agarkar, who broke the five-run stand.

Chris Cairns, who faced 20 balls, scored as many. Three balls later, he was caught by Mongia. Agarkar broke the run-a-ball stand. Chris Harris, who faced four balls, scored four. Eight balls later, he was caught by Agarkar, who broke the three-run stand.

Although he was unbeaten, Mark Priest had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored four. Vettori, who faced three balls, scored a run. He was unbeaten. India conceded 14 extras. New Zealand scored 219 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs.

Robin Singh bowled a couple of wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded eight. Kanitkar, who bowled nine wicketless overs, conceded 42. Tendulkar, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 32. He picked up a wicket.

Prasad bowled seven overs, including a maiden. He conceded 21, picking up a wicket. Kumble, who bowled eight overs, conceded 31. He picked up a wicket. Harbhajan, who bowled nine overs, conceded 30. He picked up a couple of wickets. Agarkar, who bowled nine overs, conceded 52. He picked up three scalps.

Owing to rain, India's target was revised to 147 off 25 overs. Sourav Ganguly, who faced a dozen balls, scored four. Twenty-six balls into the chase, he was caught by Parore. Cairns broke the 20-run stand.

Tendulkar, whose 36-ball innings included three boundaries and as many sixes, scored 53. Thirty-four balls later, he was caught by Harris, who broke the 58-run stand. Azharuddin, whose run-a-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 53. He was unbeaten, as was Jadeja, who faced 46 balls, scoring 17.

The New Zealanders conceded four extras. The Indians scored 131 for the loss of a couple of wickets off 24.2 overs. Rain stopped play at 8:20pm, four balls short of what was required for a result. At 9pm, the match was declared a no result.

Paul Wiseman, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 11. Astle, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded a dozen. Vettori, who bowled 6.2 wicketless overs, conceded 32.

Cairns, who bowled five overs, conceded 36. He picked up a wicket, as did Harris, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceding 40.

Both the teams got a point apiece.