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Nehra gets India off to rousing start
India's captain Mahender Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar successfully appeal for leg before wicket against New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder in the second match of the tri-series in Colombo on Friday.
Pacer Ashish Nehra got India off to a rousing start trapping Ryder plumb in fromt of the wicket with the third ball of the match for a two-ball duck.
Nehra's 100th ODI victim
Nehra then had the other opener, Brendon McCullum, also out leg before wicket.
The dismissal gave Nehra his 100th wicket.
The ball landed on a length on leg and middle and hit the batsman right in front as New Zealand slipped into early trouble at four for two in the third over.
Smart take by Dhoni
India wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni dives to his right to catch Ross Taylor off the bowling of R P Singh.
Taylor's dismissal left the Kiwis reeling at 19 for three in the sixth over.
Indian bowlers keep Kiwis in check
The three Indian fast bowlers -- RP Singh, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma -- kept it very tight and even singles were difficult to come.
There were as many as 46 dot balls in the first ten overs with New Zealand crawling to 30 for three.
Captain Dhoni then took a smart gamble by introducing part-timer Yuvraj Singh ahead of regular spinner Harbhajan Singh and the left-arm spinner struck in his very first over. Martin Guptill, looking solid on 22 from 42 deliveries, edged one that turned a bit and comeback man Rahul Dravid took a sharp low catch to his left at first slip. (51-4, 15)
Yuvraj's golden arm sinks Kiwis
Yuvraj introduced for his second spell after the drinks struck with his first delivery of the new spell. Neil Broom, after a brisk 21 from 28 deliveries, tried to whip Yuvraj through the leg side but Suresh Raina held a good low catch to his left at midwicket.
He had earlier taken the wickets of Martin Guptill and Grant Elliott to finish with respectable figures of three for 31 in 10 overs.
New Zealand bundled out for 155
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori battled hard for his 25 from 36 deliveries but was outdone by a superb piece of bowling from Ishant and ended up losing his stumps.
Nehra finished things off when he got the final wicket, that of Ian Butler to bowl out the Kiwis for a paltry 155 in 46.3 overs.
Tendulkar steadies India
New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills appeals successfully for the wicket of India opener Dinesh Karthik, who was ruled out leg before wicket for 4.
India's two most experienced batsmen -- Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid -- then steadied the Indian innings with a 60-run partnership for the second wicket.
Tendulkar made a brisk 46 from 55 deliveries, while Dravid could only manage 14 from 45 deliveries.
India beat New Zealand to enter final
Suresh Raina started off by despatching Daniel Vettori over midwicket for the first six of the innings. He slog-swept part-timer Guptill for another maximum in the 34th over as India's innings finally gathered momentum with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also looking busy at the other end.
Dhoni was unbeaten on 35 from 65 deliveries, while Raina scored a brisk 45 not out from 54 as India cruised to 156 for four in 40.3 overs and won by a comfortable six-wicket margin.
With New Zealand having lost both their matches, India and Sri Lanka have now qualified for the final.