India start with bang

Reach final with six-wicket win as Sachin masters tricky conditions after Nehra grabs early wickets....

There were a few tense faces as Team India took the field after skipper MS Dhoni lost the toss in their tri-series opener against New Zealand,at a venue where teams batting second generally end up on the losing side. But as the day progressed,the worry lines were replaced with broad smiles as Dhoni and Suresh Raina completed a tricky chase with plenty of authority.

India eased past the target of 156 in 40.3 overs to beat New Zealand by six wickets,and break the Premadasa jinx as well for teams batting first had won the last 11 games played at this venue. The Kiwis have been knocked out of this short tournament,while Indias game against Sri Lanka on Saturday is a dress rehearsal for Mondays final.

If India win their next two games against Sri Lanka,they will be the undisputed No 1 in the ICC rankings.

Team effort

There were several positives that India can take from this game,with handy contributions from all corners. If anybody doubted the credentials of Indias new pace spearhead Ashish Nehra,those suspicions were proved to be unfounded. The comeback man showed what it took to be among the wickets on slow,low Sri Lankan pitches,bowling just short of a length and not allowing the batsmen to come onto the front foot. He got rid of Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum leg-before,and when RP Singh got rid of Ross Taylor,New Zealand were reduced to 19/3 in 5.5 overs.

With the three batsmen who were the main scorers during Indias tour to New Zealand earlier this year back in the pavilion,the Kiwis were well and truly on the mat. Nehras bowling performance was backed up by RP Singh,Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh.

Master class

The Kiwis never recovered from the faltering start,and ended up with a total that was well below par. But chasing anything at this venue can be tricky,as recent history suggests,and it took the experience of Sachin Tendulkar to get things going.

On a pitch where every batsman up to that point had struggled to time the ball,Tendulkar looked completely at ease from the word go. New Zealand got the early breakthroughs when Dinesh Karthik fell,but Rahul Dravid made sure there were to be no further hiccups for a while.

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While he held one end up,Tendulkar set about chipping at the target with authoritative pulls,sweetly timed punches and a couple of flicks through mid-wicket. The two comeback men put on 60 for the second wicket before both Dravid and Tendulkar fell in quick succession. Yuvraj hit two boundaries off Daniel Vettori in a brief innings but fell going for a big slog-sweep and suddenly,with India at 80/4, New Zealand had a foot in the door.

Dhoni and Raina ensured there were to be no more mishaps to take India home,looking a part of a team heading to the top of the rankings.