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 Indians finally found a proper batting wicket, Virender Sehwag hit a century, and yet they handed over the second one-dayer to New Zealand here today to remain winless on a disastrous tour. After being ambushed on seamer-friendly strips in the two Tests and the first one-dayer, all of which they lost, the visitors batted irresponsibly on a good track here to manage only 219 runs against New Zealand’s 254 for nine, to end up losers by 35 runs. Opener Sehwag put behind his failures on this tour to bat brilliantly for his 108 off 121 balls but he ran himself out at a crucial stage to compound another poor outing for the Indians who fielded badly and whose batting was marked by suicidal tendencies.
Another top player, Rahul Dravid, was also needlessly run out and in the end skipper Sourav Ganguly admitted that the two run-outs had cost India the match although his own continued failure with the bat did not help. For the first time on this tour, Ganguly won the toss and promptly put New Zealand in to bat. The home team did well to post a competitive total on the board with Nathan Astle and Mathew Sinclair putting up 136 runs for the second wicket. Astle made 76 off 95 balls with five fours and a six while Sinclair scored 78 from 126 balls with four boundaries and a six. Apart from these two, Lou Vincent was the only batsman to have made a significant contribution, scoring 34 off just 32 deliveries.
 India lost Ganguly to the third ball of the day, clean bowled by Tuffey for naught. Sehwag, who struck nine fours and two sixes in his knock, kept the team in the hunt with a few good partnerships but key wickets at crucial junctures saw India releasing their grip on the match. V V S Laxman edged a catch to wicketkeeper Brendan McCullam after adding 57 runs for the second wicket with Sehwag in which his own contribution was 20. And when Dravid and Yuvraj Singh fell in quick succession to leave India at 104 for four in the 24th over, Sehwag found an able partner in Mohammad Kaif who batted sensibly to put on 78 runs for the fifth wicket.
Just when the duo looked set to anchor India to safety, Daryl Tuffey, New Zealand’s most successful bowler on this tour, struck by inducing an outside edge off Kaif’s bat for
McCullum to take a simple catch. Kaif scored 24 runs. When Sanjay Bangar was out in the same fashion six balls later after making just four runs, India’s run-chase was all but over since Sehwag was left only with the tailenders to score 68 more runs at more than six runs an over. Harbhajan Singh played a cameo knock of 16 off 17 balls that included a stunning six over point off Tuffey but that was hardly enough for India’s cause. The tourists, who had been docked two overs for their slow bowling rate, lost their last four wickets within a space of 15 runs to be all out in 43.4 over and give a 2-0 lead to New Zealand in the seven-match series.
 But Sehwag had the consolation of becoming only the second Indian to score a one-day century in New Zealand, the other being Dravid who made 123 in 1998-99 in Taupo. The dashing opener, who has struggled on this tour so far, played a balanced knock today. He restrained his big-hitting tendencies during the initial part of his innings and concentrated hard on getting a partnership going with Laxman. It was only after he had crossed his half-century that he opened up to play some big shots. Repeatedly coming down the track to spinner Daniel Vettori, he hit the bowler for 13 runs in an over, including a four and a six over long-on.
He also hammered Paul Hitchcock for an astonishing six over point region as he raced into his nineties. He brought up his fourth one-day century with a boundary to third man. Earlier, New Zealand rode on the good innings from Astle and Sinclair and an inept fielding performance by the Indians to post a good total. They lost Stephen Fleming in the third over of the day when the captain miscued an intended on-drive to give a simple catch to Kaif off Javagal Srinath who finished with three wickets for 34 runs. Astle lived dangerously but ensured that the team recovered from the early jolt. Sinclair was let off twice, with Dravid missing a catch and a stumping chance against Harbhajan Singh when the batsman was yet to reach his 40s.
 The duo took the score to 146 in the 33rd over before India struck back by dismissing Astle and Craig McMillan in quick succession. Astle pulled Ganguly straight into the hands of Zaheer Khan at deep mid-wicket while McMillan fell leg before wicket to Srinath after making just five runs. Sinclair and Vincent then put on run-a-ball 42 runs for the fifth wicket which took New Zealand to 199 in the 43rd over. Sinclair became the lone victim of Harbhajan Singh, giving a catch to Dravid while attempting a reverse sweep. Zaheer Khan bowled beautifully in the final overs to claim three wickets, two with perfect yorkers. He finished with figures of three for 47. The two teams now move to Christchurch for a day-night game January 1.
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