Gambhir slams another ton as India win NZ series

Gautam Gambhir slammed another quick hundred as India crushed New Zealand by a nine-wicket margin, going 3-0 up in the five-match series. On a pace-friendly wicket, New Zealand suffered a top-order collapse before James Franklin's 72 pulled them to a below par 224-9. India got there with only Murali Vijay (30) failing to convert on another start.

First, the positives for India from this game: a comfortable series win just before the World Cup, Gambhir's certified return to form, Virat Kohli making yet another fifty, Munaf Patel presenting a strong case for himself with a tight 1-28 from 10 overs, Yusuf Pathan managed not to get hit around in a long spell and even took two wickets, and Gambhir's delightfully attacking field settings for spinners, which blew New Zealand's middle order away.

The concerns would be Vijay's habit of not making starts count, and Ravindra Jadeja's baffling inclusion for today's game. This year in ODIs, Vijay has had scores of 25, 11, 14, 21, 15, 29, 33 and 30. With India's packed top-order, these scores would mean that Vijay is not a front-runner for the World Cup squad.
Jadeja was used as the sixth bowler today, and he was hugely unimpressive, giving away 40 runs in seven to New Zealand who, having slumped to 106-7, didn't look like crossing 150. Jadeja's toothless slow left-armers let Franklin and Nathan McCullum build over a lost cause. The game could have been used better by allowing Saurabh Tiwary a look-in, with Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan taking care of the fifth bowler's quota.
Earlier New Zealand, inserted in seam-friendly conditions, lost opener Brendon McCullum second ball as he angled Zaheer Khan to Vijay at slip. Gambhir ran Martin Guptill out with a direct hit and Zaheer then had the rusty Ross Taylor caught behind.
Munaf thrived in the situation, bowling his trademark off-stump line on this fresh-looking wicket. He swung one into Ken Williamson for an LBW
Gambhir then called in the spinners with a slip and leg-slip. This cut out the easy singles towards the leg-side and produced immediate result. Three wickets fell in a short span, all at the wicket. Scott Styris played into Yuvraj's hands at leg-slip. Ashwin invited the batsmen to drive, got punished a bit as a result, but managed to remove Nathan McCullum after a 94-run stand for the eighth wicket. In between, Yusuf had Daniel Vettori and Gareth Hopkins caught by Yuvraj.
The target of 225 was under-par and New Zealand's attack didn't look threatening. Gambhir, fresh from his 138 in Jaipur, raced to a 30-ball fifty in just the ninth over. He continued to score heavily by lobbing over cover and slashing through point and the Kiwis continued to feed him deliveries in that channel.
The series now moves to Bangalore and India have their sights firm on a 5-0 sweep. This was New Zealand's eighth defeat without a win, and seventh on the trot. Unless their new coaching consultant Duncan Fletcher can teach them some new tricks, this trend is likely to continue.