4th ODI India v/s New Zealand (March 11, 2009)

4^th ODI between India and New Zealand will be written in the record books for two main reasons. First is India’s maiden ODI series win in New Zealand and the other is 60-balls century by the Indian batting spearhead Virender Sehwag.

After winning the toss, Daniel Vettori decided to bat first, a consequence of chasing huge totals in 1^st and 3^rd ODI. Contrary to the previous ODIs, this time Kiwis had a serene start with Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum using hit and run-a-single technique. However once McCullum had his eye in, he started to open up. Praveen Kumar and rusted Ishant Sharma were the victims of his lashing. A strong platform for a herculean total was being set up.

Indian bowling ace Zaheer Khan was to be preserved for later overs. And with Sharma and Kumar going all over the park, MS Dhoni was left with no other options for bowling and hence did what he is best at- gambling. Part-time bowlers, Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan, were brought into the attack. Both of them did their job and stemmed the free flow of runs.

McCullum was granted two life lines- one by Dhoni and the other by Sehwag, both off Yuvraj Singh. But Yuvraj was able to gulp down Ryder, who tried to slog but ended up getting a leading edge and was brilliantly caught by Suresh Raina. New Zealand 102 for 1. Soon after that, Taylor gifted his wicket to Pathan. Kiwis 2 down for 114. However this quick fall of wickets did not hinder McCullum’s intention. He kept firing from one end giving sufficient time for the new batsman, Guptill, to set himself up at the crease.

Seeing McCullum gunning down Indian bowlers, batting powerplay was taken by the Kiwi captain. Indian seamers were back into the attack. Zaheer showed McCullum way to Kiwi pavilion in the first over of batting powerplay. Three balls after this, out-of-form Jacob Oram followed. A bouncing delivery by Ishant Sharma, edged by Oram, was comfortably caught by Dhoni. Guptill also bowed down to Sharma in the last over of batting powerplay. New Zealand were in deep trouble with 175 for 5 and two unset batsmen in the middle of the ground. But Grant Elliot and the local boy- Peter McGlashan had other plans altogether.

The Kiwi innings was revived by an unbeaten 95-run stand between McGlashan and Elliott and ended at 270/5. McGlashan used all sorts of sweep shots – orthodox, paddle and reverse, to score 56 off 42 balls. Elliot also added a valuable 35 off 27 balls.

India needed 271 to win off 47 overs- a formidable target.

With injured Sachin Tendulkar making space for Rohit Sharma, India started with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. A traditional Sehwag cameo was expected in the initial overs. And he delivered. But this time it was not a cameo, it was a full movie. Sehwag scored unbeaten 125 off just 74 balls. Gambhir provided an apt support by scoring unbeaten 63 off 67 balls.

With Sehwag and Gambhir at the center, Indian innings started with a bang. Sehwag started to open up in the 4^th over. The debutant Ewen Thompson was slammed 15 runs in his second over. Thereafter,Mills and O’Brien were thrashed. There was no one stopping Sehwag. Runs started cascading. Sehwag scored his half century in 9^th over. India had raced to 83 in 10 overs without losing any wicket.

As soon as Daniel Vettori took up the ball in 11^th over it started raining. Using D/L method, a target of 263 off 43 overs was given.

Vettori did not opted for powerplay (bowling) in 11^th over. But Dhoni did. With Sehwag in murderous form, batting powerplay (4 overs) was taken . In next 24 balls 43 runs were scored. Thereafter, Oram was introduced in the bowling attack. But this did not impede Sehwag and his run flow. No respect was paid to the veteran bowler. Now every Kiwi bowler was massacred by Sehwag.

After 18 overs, Sehwag was on 96 and Gambhir on 49. Gambhir brings up his fifty and gives strike to Sehwag. On the next ball, Sehwag waltzed down the track and BOOM! The ball flies over the mid-off boundary and Sehwag brings up this ton in style. Sehwag scores century off 60 balls- fastest by an Indian.

Rain stopped the play again in 20^th over. Its 19.2 overs. 4 more balls required to get a result from this game using D/L method.

Showers stop and the covers are removed. The new target, according to D/L, is 220. The first ball after play and Sehwag is dropped by McGlashan. It is rightly said “No one can stop you when its your day”. So still more of Sehwag to come. Again showers of sixes and fours by the Indian gunner.

Its 23.2 overs and India has already passed 200 mark. If it rains again, India’s supposed target will be 197 which India has already achieved.

And it RAINS!!

India wins by 84 runs according to D/L method.

Virender Sehwag’s fastest ton helps India to clinch a comprehensive win in 4^th ODI.

This young Indian cricket team has achieved the feat which has never been achieved before. India wins ODI series in New Zealand!

Chitrang Dalal