Cricket: Slamming Sehwag spearheads series win

Virendar Sehwag of India celebrates his century as Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori looks on during the fourth One Day International at Seddon Park. Photo / Getty Images

India's overwhelming dominance deservedly translated to a first one-day cricket series victory on New Zealand soil tonight, as a record breaking Virender Sehwag smeared a fraught bowling attack to all points of Seddon Park.

India raced to a crushing 10-wicket victory under the Duckworth/Lewis system, closing on 201 without loss when a fifth weather interruption ended New Zealand's anguish.

After cobbling together an inadequate 270 for five from 47 overs, New Zealand watched helplessly as India's target fluctuated between 281 and 220 - each revision a mere formality given Sehwag's imperious form.

He was unbeaten on 125 from 74 balls when the game was ended 23.3 overs into the pursuit - well ahead of the calculations.

They claim the five-match series 3-0 with a game in hand.

Naturally Sehwag was at the forefront of another demoralising exercise for New Zealand's bowlers as they conceded their first series on home soil since Australia secured the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in 2005.

And the punishment will likely not end here with the final match in Eden Park on Saturday raising the prospect of a 4-0 scoreline before the three-test series starts next week.

It was India's first series win in New Zealand from six attempts stretching back to 1975-76 - and was achieved without a recuperating Sachin Tendulkar.

The legend was barely missed as his fellow opener Sehwag added his own historical footnote to India's avenging a 2-5 loss on their last trip here in 2002-03.

When he cleared the fence at long on, Sehwag took ownership of the fastest ever century compiled in New Zealand - erasing Craig McMillan's 67-ball effort against Australia on the same ground in 2007.

Sehwag sliced seven balls off the previous mark, thanks to 13 crunching fours and a quartet of sixes.

It is also the fastest ODI hundred scored by an Indian, relegating Mohammad Azharuddin's 62-ball effort against New Zealand at Baroda in 1988.

Sehwag missed out in Christchurch on Sunday, but that failure proved an aberration as he continued to torment whichever bowler trundled towards him.

A new casualty emerged in the form of left armer Ewen Thompson, whose four overs on ODI debut cost 42.

Iain O'Brien, who avoided Tendulkar's 163 runs worth of carnage in Christchurch, was helpless on his recall as Sehwag contemputously peeled four boundaries from his first over.

Jacob Oram's four and a bit overs leaked 43.

The onslaught was so intense captain Daniel Vettori had to attempt to slow the scoring in the 11th over - but his intervention could not put Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir off their stride.

Gambhir was relegated to a supporting role and contributed an almost nondescript 63 from 67 balls.

The pair had 83 in the bank after just 10 overs, setting the tone for a record-breaking opening partnership.

They rubbed out the previous best of 182 between Sehwag and Tendulkar at Hyderabad six years ago and then equalled the allcomers mark - the 201 produced by Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara at Napier in 2006.

New Zealand constructed their own century opening stand - 102 between Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum but the batting then faltered until Peter McGlashan, in his third ODI, and Grant Elliott provided a face-saving 95 run stand for the sixth wicket.

New Zealand made a calculated gamble at the toss - sacrificing their preference to chase targets down by batting first, but the change of tack simply delayed the inevitable Indian onslaught.

Once Ryder, 46, and McCullum, 77, departed, an ineffectual middle order was bogged down by the spin of Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan before McGlashan's array of unorthodox shots earned him an unbeaten 56 from 42 balls - his maiden ODI fifty.

Elliott's 35 included some lusty blows at the death - but they were instantly rendered meaningless by man of the match Sehwag, who now has 11 ODI hundreds, five at New Zealand's expense.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand
J Ryder c Raina b Yuvraj 46
B McCullum lbw Khan 77
R Taylor c R Sharma b Pathan 5
M Guptill c sub (Karthik) b I Sharma 25
J Oram c Dhoni b I Sharma 1
P McGlashan not out 56
G Elliott not out 35

Extras (9lb 13w 3nb) 25

Total (for 5 wkts, 47 overs) 270

Fall: 102 (Ryder), 108 (Taylor), 155 (McCullum), 156 (Oram), 175 (Guptill)

Bowling: Z Khan 10-0-49-1 (2w), P Kumar 7-0-51-0 (3w), I Sharma 8-0-57-2 (1w 3nb), Y Singh 9-0-40-1, Y Pathan 5-0-14-1, H Singh 8-0-50-0 (7w).

India (target: 220 from 36 overs)

G Gambhir not out 63
V Sehwag not out 125

Extras (9lb 4w) 13

Total (for 0 wkt, 23.3 overs) 201

Bowling: K Mills 5-0-29-0, E Thompson 4-0-42-0 (2w), I O'Brien 3-0-37-0 (1w), D Vettori 5-0-32-0, J Oram 4.3-0-43-0, G Elliott 2-0-9-0 (1w).

Result: India win by 10 wickets (D/L), lead five match series 3-0.

- NZPA