Bangalore: India survived some anxious moments following a middle-order slump to beat a brave New Zealand by five wickets and complete a 2-0 sweep in the cricket Test series at the Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chasing a target of 261 after dismissing the Black Caps for 248 in their second innings earlier in the day, the Indians were tottering at 166 for five before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 not out) and Virat Kohli (51 not out) carried India to victory with a 96-run partnership off 121 balls for the unfinished sixth wicket.
Kohli, who had scored 103 in the first innings, was adjudged Man of the Match while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who had a haul of 18 wickets, including 12 in the first Test at Hyderabad, was declared Man of the Series.
The Kiwis, who had lost the first Test by an innings and 115 runs, had their chances and, with a bit of luck, could have pulled it off, but their bowling was not sharp enough to carry the day that was interrupted by drizzle an hour after lunch leading to a 57-minute stoppage.
Off-spinner Jeetan Patel sent shivers down the Indian spine with a three-wicket haul, but never quite looked a match-winner, while seamers Tim Southee (1 for 68) and Trent Boult (1 for 68) were too costly while failing to maintain a consistent line and length.
India were quick off the blocks with openers Virender Sehwag (38) and Gautam Gambhir (34) involved in a hectic partnership that pushed the Kiwis on the defensive as the pair put on 77 runs in just 71 balls.
Runs flowed like a river in spate as the Kiwi bowlers erred in line and length to be mercilessly punished. However, the run feast was too good to last and the exit of Sehwag in the 12th over changed the complexion of the game quite dramatically.
Sehwag, after smashing Patel for a six and a boundary, charged the bowler, missed the line and was bowled and soon Gambhir followed when he nicked Boult to Taylor in the slips, just before lunch that the Indians took at 88 for two.
