India scored its first win of the tri-series one-day cricket tournament and picked up a bonus point with a seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday.
Chasing Zimbabwe's 208-6, Virender Sehwag (90) and Sachin Tendulkar (44) put India in control with an opening stand of 130 from 24 overs.
India now is 1-1 and Zimbabwe 0-2, both trailing Australia's 2-0 record. Australia plays Zimbabwe on Friday, also at Bellerive Oval.
Despite Zimbabwe picking up 3-42, India won with 74 balls to spare, well inside the 40 overs needed to earn a bonus point. Captain Sourav Ganguly hit 32 not out, with V.V.S. Laxman unbeaten on 13 as India finished on 211-3.
Man-of-the-match Sehwag had a strong day and after tying down Zimbabwe's batsmen with his off-breaks, struck 90 from 102 balls, including five sixes.
Tendulkar punched four early boundaries and at one stage led his partner by 15 runs, before Sehwag hit 60 while his more illustrious colleague nudged the ball around and added just 20 in the same time.
Earlier, Zimbabwe's batting was again left largely to the allrounders as captain Heath Streak and Sean Ervine added respectability to the total.
New Zealand versus Pakistan
New Zealand needed only 23 overs yesterday to surpass Pakistan's total of 126 and win the fourth one-day cricket match and clinch the five-match series 3-1.
After Pakistan was out in 36.3 overs, opener Craig Cumming overcame a rash of poor form to score an unbeaten 45 and anchor New Zealand's reply.
He put on 84 for New Zealand's first wicket with Stephen Fleming, who was out for 29, to ensure the victory was easily achieved. The home side lost only one more wicket on its way to the win.
The final match is scheduled for Wellington on Saturday.
Pakistan's batting performance was poor. Only four of its batsmen reached double figures and all-rounder Shoaib Akhtar became top scorer when he took 27 from 28 balls near the end.
Akhtar's 39-run last wicket partnership with Mohammad Sami gave Pakistan's total a faint tinge of respectability.
Pakistan's innings tottered and fell into disarray after two slight early partnerships. Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat put on 20 for the first wicket and Farhat stayed with Saleem Elahi to put on 29 for the second.
Pakistan lost two wickets at 49, two at 53 and a total of eight for 36 runs between the 15th and 29th overs to lose any chance of setting a demanding run chase.
Its collapse owed more to poor batting than good bowling. New Zealand bowled accurately on a wicket the pace of which suited fast bowlers and which allowed a little early movement from the seam.
Farhat and Elahi were out at 49, Yousuf Youhana and captain Inzamam-ul-Haa at 53. Shoaib Malik fell at 57 and Moin Khan at 75, Azhar Mahmood at 84 and Abdul Razzaq at 87.
RSS