LONDON, May 25: Indian batting line-up�s soft underbelly lay exposed in slightly favourable bowling conditions as New Zealand gave a rude wake-up call, winning the first warm-up game ahead of the ICC World Cup by six wickets here on Saturday.
Under overcast conditions, Trent Boult�s (4/33) incisive swing bowling was a test of technique for the Indian top-order batsmen and the Men In Blue never recovered from an early collapse, being bowled out for 179 in 39.2 overs.
It was a walk in the park for the �Black Caps� as they reached the target in only 37.1 overs with Kane Williamson (67) and Ross Taylor (71) helping themselves to half-centuries.
While it was a warm-up game and the outcome of the result isn�t something that India would be bothered too much but what certainly would keep them worried is the failure to find a solution for their problems.
KL Rahul failed at No 4, Dinesh Karthik�s poor IPL form continued while Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav�s respective injuries in all likelihood would prevent the team management from checking them out against Bangladesh in the second warm-up game at Cardiff.
The two wrist spinners � Kuldeep Yadav (0/44 in 8.1 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/37 in 6 overs), who have gone off the boil in the past few months � also didn�t make much of an impact.
SCORECARD
India: Rohit Sharma lbw b Boult 2, Shikhar Dhawan c Tom Blundell b Boult 2, Virat Kohli b de Grandhomme 18, Lokesh Rahul b Boult 6, Hardik Pandya c Tom Blundell b Neesham 30, MS Dhoni c Neesham b Southee 17, Dinesh Karthik c Ish Sodhi b Neesham 4, Ravindra Jadeja c Guptill b Lockie Ferguson 54, Bhuvneshwar Kumar c Ross Taylor b Neesham 1, Kuldeep Yadav c & b Boult 19, Mohammed Shami not out 2. Extras: (B-4, LB-8, W-12) 24. Total: (For all out in 39.2 overs) 179. Fall of wickets: 3-1, 10-2, 24-3, 39-4, 77-5, 81-6, 91-7, 115-8, 177-9, 179-10. Bowler: Tim Southee 7-0-26-1, Trent Boult 6.2-1-33-4, Colin de Grandhomme 6-0-12-1, Lockie Ferguson 8-0-33-1, James Neesham 6-1-26-3, Mitchell Santner 3-0-19-0, Ish Sodhi 3-0-18-0.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill c Lokesh Rahul b Hardik Pandya 22, Colin Munro lbw b Jasprit Bumrah 4, Kane Williamson c Rohit Sharma b Yuzvendra Chahal 67, Ross Taylor c Virat Kohli b Ravindra Jadeja 71, Henry Nicholls not out 15, Tom Blundell not out 0. Extras: 1. Total: (For 4 wickets in 37.1 overs) 180. Fall of wickets: 8/1, 37/2, 151/3, 179/4. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-27-0, Jasprit Bumrah 4-2-2-1, Mohammed Shami 4-0-16-0, Hardik Pandya 4-0-26-1, Yuzvendra Chahal 6-0-37-1, Kuldeep Yadav 8-1-44-0, Ravindra Jadeja 7-0-27-1. � Agencies
