Series in the bag as NZ crash to innings defeat

NAGPUR: Much like the cheery on the cake, the Indians seemed to have reserved their best for the last. And, when Ishant Sharma dismissed last man Chris Martin just 29 minutes after lunch on a memorable Tuesday afternoon, they put New Zealand in their place with merciful quickness. India’s thumping victory by an innings and 198 runs not only enabled them to win the series 1-0 but it also underlined the yawning gap between the No. 1 Test side and the No. 8 ranked Kiwis.
The celebrations on the field were expectedly restrained since India were expected to outclass the unfancied New Zealand at home anyway. Yet, the fact that India’s performance came in the absence of Zaheer Khan, and after they had lost an important toss, makes the victory sweeter. Most commendable was the performance of pacers Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, who set the tone with telling blows on the first day of the Test.
"I think the way the fast bowlers bowled on the first day was remarkable. There wasn’t much in the wicket for them but they still got the wickets, and they were backed by the spinners," said skipper MS Dhoni.
Rahul Dravid was the deserving Man of the Match while Harbhajan Singh must have surprised even himself after getting the Man of the Series award more for his two consecutive Test hundreds than for his bowling.
Trailing by 373 runs, the New Zealand batsmen displayed neither the head nor the heart to take the fight to the home team spinners, who teased and tormented the batsmen with their flight and variation. Starting the fourth day on 24/1, they were bundled out for 175 in their second innings as Ishant Sharma (3/15), Harbhajan Singh (3/56), Pragyan Ojha (2/67) and Suresh Raina (2/1) shared the spoils.
Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor may have fallen to poor decisions by the umpires but on this day, there was no denying the Indians on a wicket that came alive on the fourth day, offering enough turn and bounce.
Dhoni’s imaginative and innovative captaincy also made life difficult for the NZ batsmen, who had to contend with an intimidating cluster of fielders around the bat.