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It was a brisk start by the BLACKCAPS who were put into bat with Brendon McCullum making an aggressive 31 off 19 before attempting an extravagant flick shot and getting caught at mid-on.
The loss of Jesse Ryder (2), Martin Guptill (10) and Jacob Oram (5) didn’t stop the flow of runs as Ross Taylor continued his fine run of form hitting 41 off 33.
Scott Styris was also in good touch striking 29 from 19 before becoming Ishant Sharma’s fourth victim. Sharma, the best of the Indian bowlers finished with four for 25 off his four overs.
Late cameos from Nathan McCullum who hit 18 off 14 and James Franklin who blasted 27 off 10 balls ensured the competitive total of 170 was reached.
India chased hard from the outset with Rohit Sharma opening the batting and smashing 36 off 20.
Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni were dismissed cheaply but Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja combined to put on 69 for the fourth wicket and were looking to be on top at 126 for three.
The introduction of Jacob Oram who dismissed Raina for 45 swung the momentum back the BLACKCAPS way as they went on to win the match by nine runs.
Daniel Vettori was the best of the BLACKCAPS attack taking three for 24 including the prize wicket of Indian captain MS Dhoni.
Top-scoring batsman Ross Taylor said the win provides a good boost to the team – and may have some people rethinking the BLACKCAPS underdog status.
“Momentum is a big thing in Twenty20 cricket – even if it is a warm-up game it’s very important,” Taylor said.
“Reading a few papers nobody’s really mentioned us too much – we’re slipping under the radar a bit. Winning this game, we might be talked about a bit more.
“We know that we’re a good side and that we can play competitive cricket. We’ve made semi-finals in the past, and in the last World Cup, but still no-one really talks about us. We’re happy about that and hopefully we can prove a few people wrong.”
The BLACKCAPS play another warm up match against Australia on 2 June (UK time).
Their first competition match in the world Twenty20 is against Scotland on Saturday 6 June.
