All round performance from Ryder gives a consolation win by Cricketarchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	New Zealand v India
Player:	JD Ryder, MJ Guptill, V Sehwag, I Sharma
Event:	India in New Zealand 2008/09

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DateLine: 14th March 2009

 

New Zealand rode on the back of Jesse Ryder's brilliant performance with the ball first and then with the bat to finally beat India in the ODI series. India having already won the series decided to go in with the same team that played in the previous matches but to give out the signal that they intend to win the final match while New Zealand made one change bringing in the experienced Styris in place of Thompson who was injured. India in the end could manage only 149 which New Zealand overcame with lot of ease. Jesse Ryder was the hero as he took three valuable middle order wickets and then turned the heat on the hapless India bowlers as he smashed them to smithereens. In a match reduced to 43 overs each after rain delayed the start by 90 minutes, India were still unable to go the distance as Ryder ripped out the middle order. The visitors were eventually all out in the 37th over, with only three players reaching double figures. Ryder, New Zealand's big-hitting opening batsman, finished with three for 29 off nine overs, while Jacob Oram was equally impressive, returning two for 22 from his nine overs.

 

India's swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag made his customary explosive start as he belted Kyle Mills for six over the cover boundary from the second ball he faced. The fifth ball he received from Mills received similar treatment but the New Zealand new ball bowler refused to be intimidated. He had the slow-scoring Gautam Gambhir caught behind for five and India were one down for 30 in the fifth over. Sehwag continued in cavalier fashion, riding his luck, and in one over from Iain O'Brien he belted four, six, four in consecutive balls before being dropped at first slip by Ross Taylor. Three balls later, Suresh Raina had a life when he steered Mills uppishly to backward point, where Brendon McCullum could not claim the chance and India could sense another big score was looming. But the game changed with the introduction of Oram, who claimed Raina for eight with his fourth ball, which was skied to mid-on where Scott Styris raced in to take a diving catch. In his next over, Oram took the prized wicket of Sehwag when he saw the batsman charging down the wicket and quickly shortened the length, finding a top edge, which McCullum held at point. Sehwag scored 40 in his 27-ball innings, including three fours and three sixes.

 

Ryder's first victim was Yuvraj Singh, who gave Peter McGlashan his second catch behind the stumps and walked for 11. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was bowled by Ryder for nine and Yusuf Pathan lasted four balls before he played on without scoring, giving Ryder his third victim and leaving India reeling at 111 for six after 25 overs. The Indian tail never threatened to stabilise the innings. Rohit Sharma, who ended up as top scorer with an unbeaten 43, called Harbhajan Singh for a second run that was never on and Harbhajan was run out for one. The same scenario was repeated four overs later when Zaheer Khan was run out for five and Iain O'Brien came back to clean up Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma.

 

The Kiwis lost Brendon McCullum Early in the third over of the match when he was cleaned up by a Praveen Kumar delivery. But then after that it was New Zealand all the way as Ryder and Guptill took turns in taking the Indian bowling to the cleaners. It was Ryder who initially set the tempo of the match as he brutally hammered the bowlers into submission. Bot he and Ishant Sharma were involved in heated exchange of words and it looked interesting as both the players took on each other. But it was evident as who was getting the upper hand of the battle and Ryder send Ishant Sharma to all parts of the ground.

 

Supported by an equally stylish Martin Guptill - who slammed an unbeaten 57 - Ryder put New Zealand on the path to a consolation win and the only blemish in his performance was not being able to stay till the end. Ryder was dropped by Yuvraj at backward point soon after he reached his century but he did not continue for more fun as he inside edged an Ishant Sharma ball back to his stumps. His knock included six blistering boundaries and four massive sixes. Guptill finished off the match in style as he clouted a six and four of a surprisingly off-colour Ishant Sharma, who would like to forget this match in a hurry.