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New
Zealand won by 67 runs in fifth ODI againgst India
Colombo,
July 26: India
crashed to their third successive defeat when they lost to New Zealand by
67 runs in the triangular one-day cricket series here on Thursday. India,
chasing a modest 201 off their allotted 48 overs, gave yet another fragile
batting performance and were all out for 133.
The defeat severely affected India's chances of qualifying for the August
5 final as Sri Lanka and New Zealand have already won three and two
matches, respectively. India will meet Sri Lanka in their next game on
Saturday.
Man-of-the-match Dion Nash and Jacob Oram were the star performers for New
Zealand. Nash batted extremely well in the closing overs and top-scored
with a 57-ball 42 to help his team reach the 200-mark and then finished
the match with the wicket of Ashish Nehra.
Oram made a 37-ball 40 with five fours and one six and claimed the prize
wicket of Rahul Dravid (27). He shared a 64-run stand off 78 balls for the
second wicket with opener Matthew Sinclair (36) before striking with the
ball to play a big role along with Nash in his team's superb fightback.
Dravid was India's main hope after skipper Sourav Ganguly and Venkatsai
Laxman had fallen in the opening three overs. He put on 50 for the third
wicket with make-shift opener Virender Sehwag, who contributed a fine 33
which included three fours in one over from medium-pacer Kyle Mills.
Sehwag was adjudged run out backing up by TV umpire Lalith Jayasundara
following a smart piece of fielding by left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori on
his follow-through in the 16th over. Two overs later, Oram virtually ended
India's chances when he bowled Dravid, the ball hitting the pads and then
the stumps.
India never recovered after being reduced to 99 for five as their batting
continued to wobble against a tight New Zealand bowling and fielding.
Three Indian batsmen were run out under pressure kept by New Zealand from
the beginning. India, thus, failed to capitalise on Ganguly's three-wicket
performance which restricted New Zealand to a small total after Oram's
initial onslaught.
New Zealand slipped from 85-1 to 126-6 in the space of 14 overs, playing
one shot too many against Ganguly and left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh.
Ganguly kept line, length and batsmen under control during his nine-over
spell, conceding 32 runs.
He won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat in his team's third match,
started an hour late due to the wet wicket and reduced to 48 overs-a-side.
Left-handed Oram was in the limelight early in the day, dominating the
Indian attack with his hard and clean hitting. He exploded with a flurry
of shots, flicking left-arm seamer Nehra and then steering him past the
second slip for successive boundaries.
The pick of his shots, however, was a straight-driven four off Nehra. Oram
then reverse-swept Harbhajan for a four and then swung him over mid-wicket
for a six in the same over. It was the reverse-sweep that led to his
dismissal, caught by lone-slip Dravid. His effort, however, did not go
waste as New Zealand fought back through their bowlers and fielders to
successfully defend a small total.
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