Hop, skipper & jump: Gautam Gambhir helps India thrash New Zealand

The way Virat Kohli (63; 70 balls, 6x4, 2x6) finished the game, with a six over long-on, indeed summed up the match. It was one-way traffic at the Reliance Stadium here on Saturday as India simply outclassed their opponents in the third ODI.

With a dictatorial nine-wicket win, Gautam Gambhir & Co took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The skipper notched up his second consecutive unbeaten ton as India won the match with consummate ease.

While the Kiwis huffed and puffed their way to 224, it was nothing but a cakewalk for the hosts. Openers Gambhir (126*; 117 balls, 16x4) and Murali Vijay (30; 50 balls, 3x4) added 115 runs before the captain shared another century partnership, this time with Kohli, to take India home.

Gambhir took off from where he left at Jaipur as the flicks, cuts and drives were simply flowing. It, however, must be said that the Kiwis didn’t really bowl to any plan.

Gambhir got some easy pickings, especially in the seventh over, when Andy McKay was hit for three consecutive boundaries. Gambhir capitalised on the bowler’s erring line and length. Prior to that, Kyle Mills also paid the price for committing the same mistake. Gambhir smacked his first two deliveries to the fence.

And once James Franklin was meted out similar treatment, skipper Daniel Vettori decided to bring himself on in the ninth over. The left-arm spinner’s introduction didn’t matter much as Gambhir raced to his fifty of just thirty balls. Partner Vijay (then on seven) was content to play second fiddle.

Vijay did play a few adventurous shots later, smacking Franklin for two consecutive boundaries. His best, though, was the one that landed in the BCA members’ lunch arena, way behind the stands.

Vettori was the unlucky bowler on that occasion. The right-hander then ran himself out for 30. No 3 bat Kohli made his intentions pretty clear.

He drove, pulled and lofted with purpose. The Delhi duo continued to punish the Kiwi bowlers.

Earlier, the visitors put up a mediocre batting performance. If not for Franklin (72*; 108 balls, 5x4, 1x6) and Nathan McCullum’s (43; 53 balls, 4x4) 94-run stand for the eighth wicket, the visitors did everything to be shot down for the lowest total at the venue.

The pair did some damage control after their side was tottering at 106 for seven.

Zaheer Khan made sure Brendon McCullum’s (0) comeback was irrelevant. In the very first over, McCullum poked at one outside off-stump only to gift Vijay, stationed at second slip, an easy catch.

Martin Guptill (12), too, pressed the self-destruct button. In the fifth over, Guptill belted Khan’s first ball for a boundary. He followed it up with a superb six before running himself out.

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor paid the price for being defensive. Taylor (4), in a bid to break free, was caught behind after Khan induced an inside edge.

Williamson (21) was later out leg-before in front by Munaf Patel. The Kiwis simply couldn’t handle the extra bounce and spin. Styris, Vettori and Hopkins, all were undone by sharp turn and bounce by local hero Yusuf Pathan and R Ashwin.