Dhoni leads India to (Ki)win

India (Shar)made five changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Ishant (Shar)made way for Sachin Tendulkar, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Munaf.

New Zealand made seven changes to the team that last played the Indians – Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent and Shane Bond made way for Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Neil Broom, Ian Butler and Iain O’Brien.

While Rohit was India’s twelfth man for this match, Tim Southee was New Zealand’s twelfth man.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s skipper and the player of the match, chose to bat. Twenty-seven balls into the match, there was an interruption due to rain, which resulted in a wet ground. India had scored 27 without the loss of a wicket at that point. While Virender Sehwag was batting on 23, Tendulkar was batting on three.

The match was reduced to a 38-overs-a-side match. The second Powerplay of India’s innings was between the ninth over and the 13^th over.

Their openers scored 50 off 8.1 overs (50 balls). New Zealand had conceded an extra at that point. While Sehwag’s contribution to the partnership was 35. Tendulkar’s contribution to it was 14. Sehwag’s half-century – which included eight boundaries and a six – came off 37 balls.

Tendulkar, whose 23-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 20. Fifty-eight legal balls into the match, he was caught by Brendon McCullum. Butler broke the 69-run partnership.

India scored 100 off 14 overs (85 balls). New Zealand had conceded an extra at that point. The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 45 balls. While Sehwag’s contribution to the partnership was 28, Dhoni’s contribution to it was 21. Extras’ contribution to it was a run.

Sehwag, whose 56-ball innings included 11 boundaries and a six, eventually scored 77. Fifty-two balls after Tendulkar’s dismissal, he was caught by Taylor. Daniel Vettori, New Zealand’s skipper, broke the run-a-ball partnership.

Twenty-two overs into the match, the drinks break was taken. India had scored 128 for the loss of a couple of wickets at that point. While Dhoni was batting on 27, Yuvraj Singh was batting on a couple.

The third-wicket pair put on 10. Yuvraj, who faced 13 balls, didn’t add to the aforementioned score. Twenty-six balls after Sehwag’s dismissal, Vettori and Guptill ran him out.

India scored 150 off 26.3 overs (160 balls). New Zealand had conceded a couple of extras at that point. The third Powerplay of India’s innings was between the 29^th over and the 31^st over.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 41 balls. While Dhoni’s contribution to the partnership was 17, Suresh Raina’s contribution to it was 34. Extras’ contribution to it was a run. Dhoni’s half-century – which included four boundaries – came off 66 balls.

India scored 200 off 30.3 overs (185 balls). New Zealand had conceded three extras at that point. Raina’s half-century – which included three boundaries and as many sixes – came off 31 balls.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 100 off 67 balls. While Dhoni’s contribution to the partnership was 36, Raina’s contribution to it was 64. Extras’ contribution to it was a run.

Raina, whose 39-ball innings included five boundaries and four sixes, eventually scored 66. Seventy-four balls later, he was caught by O’Brien. Elliott broke the 110-run partnership.

India scored 250 off 36.1 overs (219 balls). New Zealand had conceded three extras at that point. Dhoni, whose 89-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, eventually scored 84. He was unbeaten, as was Yusuf Pathan, who scored 20. His 10-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six.

New Zealand eventually conceded four extras. India scored 273 for the loss of four wickets off 38 overs.

Jacob Oram, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 19. Ryder, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 27. Kyle Mills, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 69. O’Brien bowled eight wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 52.

Elliott, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded 20. He picked up a wicket. Vettori and Butler – whose spell included a maiden – bowled eight overs each. Both conceded 42, picking up a scalp apiece.

New Zealand’s target was revised to 216. Their openers didn’t get off the mark. McCullum, who faced five balls, didn’t open his account. Eleven dot balls into the chase, he was caught by Harbhajan off the bowling of Kumar.

Ryder, whose 25-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. Thirty-five balls later, he was caught by Sehwag. Kumar broke the 23-run stand.

New Zealand scored 50 off 11.2 overs (69 balls). India had conceded a couple of extras at that point. The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 42 balls. While Guptill’s contribution to the partnership was 20, Taylor’s contribution to it was 30. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a run.

Taylor, whose 24-ball innings included three boundaries, eventually scored 31. Forty-nine balls after Ryder’s dismissal, he was caught by Tendulkar. Pathan broke the 58-run partnership.

New Zealand scored 100 off 19 overs (117 balls). India had conceded nine extras at that point. Twenty overs into the match, the drinks break was taken. India had scored 1o6 for the loss of three wickets at that point. While Guptill was batting on 48, the number of runs Elliott had scored then gave him no reason to be in seventh heaven.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 30. Elliott, who faced 11 balls, eventually scored as many. Thirty balls after Taylor’s dismissal, Dhoni and Sehwag ran him out.

A hundred and twenty-five balls into the chase, there was an interruption due to rain. New Zealand had scored 111 for the loss of four wickets at that point, and Guptill was batting on 49. Their innings was reduced to 28 overs.

The fifth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Oram, who faced a ball, D(hon)idn’t open his account. A ball after Elliott’s dismissal, he was caught behind off the bowling of Yuvraj.

Guptill’s half-century – which included three boundaries – came off 61 balls. The third Powerplay of New Zealand’s innings was just the 23^rd over of the innings. Guptill, whose 70-ball innings included five boundaries, eventually scored 64. Fifteen balls after Oram’s dismissal, he was caught by Gambhir. Harbhajan broke the 21-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair D(hon)idn’t get off the mark. Broom had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored just two. The next ball, he was stumped by Dhoni off the bowling of Harbhajan.

The eighth-wicket pair didn’t open its account. Mills, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Sehwag off the bowling of Harbhajan. The ninth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Butler, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. The next ball, he was caught by Patel off the bowling of Khan.

New Zealand scored 150 off 26.3 overs (163 balls). India had conceded 14 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded. Vettori, whose 15-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 26. He was unbeaten, as was O’Brien, who faced eight balls, scoring three.

New Zealand, who scored 162 for the loss of nine wickets off 28 overs, lost by 53 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method. Patel bowled two wicketless overs, conceding 14.

Pathan bowled four overs, conceding 22. He picked up a wicket. Yuvraj and Khan bowled half-a-dozen overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 42, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 19.

Kumar bowled half-a-dozen overs, including a maiden. He conceded 28, picking up two wicketless. Harbhajan bowled four overs, conceding 27. He picked up three scalps.

India led the five-match series 1-0.