India whitewash New Zealand with a commanding victory (Second Lead)

CHENNAI - India completed a 5-0 sweep of the One-day series against

New Zealand with a commanding eight-wicket win in the fifth and concluding game here Friday. It was Indias only second 5-0 success following a similar drubbing it handed to England in 2008-09.

In a one-sided contest, the Kiwis, batting first on winning the toss, collapsed to 103 all out in just 27 overs with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claiming three wickets and the home team, despite a shaky start when they lost two wickets for 10 in the fourth over, cruised to victory in 21.1 overs.

Yuvraj Singh (42 not out) and Parthiv Patel (56 not out) did the honours with an undefeated 93-run partnership. Yuvraj had a particularly good outing as he grabbed two wickets, including that of a well-set Jamie How (23) whose exit signaled the beginning of the end of the Kiwi resistance.

For Parthiv Patel too it was a satisfying outing and he underlined his form with a neat innings that contained some audacious shots. It was as good a comeback innings as he could have hoped for even granting that the Kiwi bowling did not exactly send any shivers down the Indian spine.

Having to defend a small total, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, in a desperate bid to make a match of it, opted for spin to open the bowling when the Indians chased and the move fetched some consolation.

Off-spinner Nathan McCullum had opener Gautam Gambhir nicking to wicket-keeper and his brother Brendon McCullum and then Vettori got rid of Virat Kohli, but those were the only successes for the Kiwis.

Yuvraj and Patel made light of the Kiwi attack and both unleashed some punishing shots as the duo saw through some difficult moments early in their innings before opening up.

Earlier, Vettori’s decision to bat first on winning the toss misfired badly as the Indian seamers achieved early breakthroughs and then the spinners called the tune as the Kiwis collapsed with barely any fight.

New Zealands best moments came when Scott Styris (24) and How put on 48 runs for the fourth wicket, but their departure in consecutive overs virtually drew curtains on the visitors innings.

How was bowled in Yuvraj Singhs very first over and in the next, Ashwin (3-24) trapped Styris in front as the batsman attempted a sweep.

The conditions were helpful to the bowlers with plenty of moisture in the air and in the pitch following heavy showers earlier this week.

Under the circumstances, Vettoris decision to bat first came as a bit of a surprise and the Indians were not about to look the gift horse in the mouth.

When Praveen Kumar dismissed opener Martin Guptill in the very first over, the Kiwis were on the backfoot. Thereafter, they lost wickets in a hurry and the brave fight by Styris and How at best delayed the inevitable.

After the seamers achieved the early breakthrough with Ashish Nehra picking up two wickets for 34 runs, the spinners carved through the the Kiwi line up in quick time.

Ashwin, who has added the carrom ball to his repertoire, Yuvraj Singh (2-5) and Yusuf Pathan (2-11) kept a tight line and length to check the Kiwis.