Kaif takes India home
BBC Online, Harare
Mohammad Kaif struck an unbeaten century as India ended New Zealand's unbeaten record in the triangular series with a six-wicket victory. Kaif struck 11 fours and was joined by Mahendra Dhoni, who smashed three fours and successive sixes in 37 off 27 balls to seal the win with 15 balls to spare. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat, posting 278-9 from 50 overs. Scott Styris (56) and Craig McMillan (40) put on 87 after Stephen Fleming had launched the innings with 47. Both sides made changes for the game with India recalling Virender Sehwag in place of Venugopal Rao and New Zealand including Chris Cairns and Andre Adams for Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori. Fleming opted to bat after winning the toss and he and Nathan Astle put on 54 in 11 overs before Astle was caught behind off Agarkar for 11. Skipper Fleming followed with the total on 83, run out by a distance when he attempted a quick single and bowler Agarkar threw down the stumps. It was the first of two run outs, with Lou Vincent (37 off 23 balls) beaten by Yuvraj Singh's direct hit after the fielder had brilliantly stopped the ball with a full length dive. When Yadav bowled Hamish Marshall for eight, New Zealand were in some trouble on 115-4. But they were again well served by the depth of their batting as Styris and McMillan turned things back in their favour with some excellent running between the wickets. They only hit five boundaries between them and once McMillan had been bowled by Agarkar, wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum joined in with an enterprising 28. Jacob Oram hit a six and four in his 14 off five balls, but Pathan picked up a couple of cheap wickets and Nehra had Styris caught by Sehwag as the innings reached its close. India's stroke-making openers Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly put on 66 before Ganguly was caught off the last ball of the seventh over for 19. Sehwag, who hit three fours in one over from Andre Adams, followed when he was bowled for 45 by Jacob Oram, leaving India on 75-2 in the 10th over. The Indian requirement went from 56 off the final 10 overs to 30 from the last five, but Dhoni eased any concerns by launching successive sixes off substitute spinner Jeetan Patel.
| 
