India beat New Zealand in second Test to clinch series 2-0

Feroz Khan

Bangalore: In the end, it seemed a tad easy affair. MS Dhoni, as he has often done in the past, sealed an Indian win with a six off his bat. However, for someone who has been following the proceedings of the second Test at Bangalore, it turned out to be an interesting affair. Scorecard » I As it happened...» India defeated New Zealand by five wickets to register fifth highest run chase at home and wrap up the series 2-0 at Bangalore on Monday. With the wicket of Jeetan Patel in the morning, India bundled out New Zealand for 248 runs, meaning they needed 261 runs to complete a series whitewash. Their chase got off to a flier with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir all guns blazing. The latter was the more aggressive of the two with crisp cover drives and solid backfoot punches. He looked to have wiped off the memories of his previous three innings but a moment of madness proved to be his undoing as has been in the past. A wide delivery outside off stump and he attempted to guide it to third man. The ball took an edge and went into the hands of Ross Taylor at first slip putting an end to his innings at 34 and handing Trent Boult a deserved wicket. Virender Sehwag was a bit cautious in the beginning but later opened up his shoulders hitting spinner Patel for six over long-off and a boundary towards third man in an over. Not satisfied with this, he charged down the ground again later in the over but this time the ball sneaked past him hitting the off-stump. He scored 38 (33b, 7X4, 1X6). He was the second wicket to fall. Cheteshwar Pujara came in at number three and together with Sachin Tendulkar, stitched a partnership that took them past 150-run mark. However, just as the momentum looked with the home team, a slight drizzle interrupted the proceedings prompting the on-field umpires to call for the covers. It was a light drizzle but lasted for over an hour leading to an early tea-break. After the break, the Kiwis struck back with the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar—who for the third time in the series was bowled. His wicket went to Tim Southee as the ball came in and clipped his pads to crash on to the middle stump. Pujara went five overs later after scoring a watchful 48. Suresh Raina played nine dots, all to Patel, and his intention to break free via dancing down the track resulted in a long walk back to the pavilion for a duck after being clean bowled. His wicket brought alive a hope in the Black Caps camp of a win only to be met by new poster boy of Indian cricket Virat Kohli and captain MS Dhoni. Kohli continued with his superb form and scored a fifty with his skipper wiping out the required margin with a four and a six becoming the most successful Indian captain at home. Ravichandran Ashwin, with 18 wickets and some handful contribution with the bat, was awarded the Man of the Series award while Kohli, with a century in the first innings and a fifty in the second was adjudged Man of the Match.