Cricket: Black Caps thump India in warmup

New Zealand unearthed some batting form in 103-run thumping of India to inject confidence heading into the Champions Trophy cricket tournament starting in South Africa this week.

Following an embarrassing two-wicket loss to club side Port Elizabeth Warriors on Saturday, the New Zealanders restored their confidence with a fine all round showing at Potchefstroom's Senwes Park against an Indian side close to full strength.

After compiling 301 for nine in 50 overs, New Zealand dismissed their big-name opposition for 198 in the 41st over in a performance vastly superior to some of their efforts on the tour of Sri Lanka.

Runs and wickets were evenly shared around, although Broom's 66 off just 46 balls was a standout performance with the bat.

There were also half centuries to opener Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill with 57 and 63 respectively while Guptill was also influential in the field, pulling off two run outs and a catch.

"It's a massive lift to score 300 runs against one of the best sides in the world," Broom told Radio Sport.

"The batting unit's been struggling, to be fair, in Sri Lanka.

"A lot of the boys are putting their hands up for spots in the team now, which is always good."

Captain Daniel Vettori took two for 46 off his 10 overs while Shane Bond claimed two for 38 off seven and Jacob Oram two for 26 off five as the Indian chase faltered.

Abhishek Nayar top-scored for them with 41 but their pursuit effectively ended when they lost five wickets for 29 runs to slump to 130 for seven.

New Zealand were to have tomorrow off before three days of training head of their opening Champions Trophy match against hosts South Africa in Centurion on Thursday. That is followed by pool matches in Johannesburg against Sri Lanka on Sunday and England on Tuesday next week.

The tournament begins in Centurion tomorrow night (NZT) when South Africa play Sri Lanka.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand
B McCullum b Singh 15
J Ryder c and b Raina 57
M Guptill c Raina b Pathan 63
R Taylor run out 23
G Elliott c Pathan b Mishra 30
J Oram c Karthik b Pathan 7
N Broom c Singh b Sharma 66
D Vettori b Pathan 17
I Butler not out 14
J Patel run out 0
Extras (6lb, 3w) 9

Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 301

Fall: 33, 93, 148, 167, 177, 211, 254, 301, 301

Bowling: P Kumar 5-1-48-0, R Singh 8-2-66-1 (2w), I Sharma 7-0-49-1, A Mishra 10-0-29-1, S Raina 4-0-17-1, Y Singh 6-0-40-0, Y Pathan 10-0-46-3 (1w)

India
K Karthik c Oram b Vettori 20
R Dravid b Patel 37
S Raina run out 31
M Dhoni c Guptill b Vettori 9
Y Pathan c McCullum b Bond 13
Y Singh b Bond 9
A Nayar b Oram 41
P Kumar run out 1
A Mishra c Tuffey b Oram 26
R Singh c McCullum b Tuffey 1
I Sharma not out 0
Extras (1b, 9w) 10

Total (all out, 40.3 overs) 198

Fall: 58, 70, 101, 112, 125, 128, 130, 197, 198, 198

Bowling: D Tuffey 8.3-0-34-1 (3w), S Bond 7-1-38-2, D Vettori 10-0-46-2 (2w), J Patel 6-1-28-1, I Butler 2-0-11-0, M Guptill 2-0-14-0, J Oram 5-1-26-2

Result: New Zealand win by 103 runs

- NZPA