TURNING POINT...New Zealand opener and top scorer Nathan Astle is bowled by Robin Singh for 92.

BANGALORE, May 14: Sachin Tendulkar's explosive brilliance made the New Zealand target easy meat for India in the Pepsi Independence Cup cricket fixture at the Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight.

Playing an equally significant part in the victory was Saurav Ganguly who hit 62 in a stand of 169 runs for the opening wicket as India, required to make 221 in 50 overs, cantered home for the loss of just two wickets.

The New Zealand score of 220 in 50 overs could have posed some problems had they been able to strike early. But once Man-of-the-Match Tendulkar cut loose, there was no stopping India. The brilliant fielding of Kiwis only delayed India from reaching the score earlier than the 43rd over.

The Indians went into the match with a tremendous disadvantage of having to play within 24 hours of completing a long journey from Bermuda. The jet-lag was expected to hamper India, while the New Zealanders' morale apeared to be on a new high after beating Pakistan. But the Indians lifted their game appreciably to restrict New Zealand to a manageable score and with the skipper himself leading the way, it became a mis-match.

New Zealand pacemen fared poorly as Ganguly and Tendulkar launched a savage assault. Heath Davis was totally out of sorts as Ganguly worked him for boundaries in his first over. And in Davis' third over, Tendulkar completely shattered his confidence.

After playing the first two balls defensively, he lofted the bowler over extra-cover for a four, followed by a savage pull for a six and smashed the next two for boundaries to take 18 runs of the over.

Andrew Penn too got the same treatment as Tendulkar took 12 runs off the ninth over to give a rollicking start to the innings. With the pitch offering no assistance, skipper Stephen Fleming could only watch in frustration as the batsmen gave no chances whatsoever while hammering the bowlers at will.

Surprisingly, Fleming brought Davis for a second spell which proved disastrous. The bowler had lot of problems with his run up and he was erratic to boot. His fifth over lasted for 11 balls and yielded 15 runs. Ganguly seemed to have a special liking for Davis who was treated with contempt.

The 100 of the innings came in just 17.5 overs and the 150 in 26.4 overs. Ganguly who was also going great guns had an attack of cramps and a little later he fell, attempting to cut Larsen and edging behind.

Tendulkar reached his century driving Penn to the boundary. He was finally bowled off an Astle yorker after making 117 with 13 fours and two glorious sixes.

Local boy Dravid provided some sparkle for the crowd. Kambli celebrated his return to the team driving Penn through the covers for the winning boundary.Earlier, Nathan Astle continued his good form with a solid 92 to help New Zealand to 220 for nine.

At the same time, Astle also played a vital role in India restricting the Kiwis by his poor judgement of singles which resulted in crucial run-outs. There were as many as four run-outs.

Astle got his side to an exciting start, with a flurry of strokes against the Indian new ball bowlers Prasad and Kuruvilla. The normally restrictive Kuruvilla erred in length for Astle to take a heavy toll.

Sunil Joshi provided India the breakthrough when he had Young caught in the mid-wicket by Kumble when he failed to keep his drive down. The New Zealand first wicket pair had pieced together 59 runs in only 10.4 overs.

The scoring continued in the same vein with Matt Horne too going after the bowling. Just when Horne was looking good, he was tragically run out after making 23.

Astle paced the innings well and in fact, at the half way stage of the innings, New Zealand were setting pretty, with the run-rate about five runs an over. Fleming started off aggressively, lofting Robin Singh for a boundary. However, he had to sacrifice his wicket to let the settled Astle to carry on the task.

Robin Singh, who exploited the slowness of the wicket commendably, clean bowled Astle when he was on the verge of his second successive century of the tournament. His fine 92 had 10 hits to the fence.

Thereafter, the Indian bowlers were able to contain the Kiwis. In fact, after Astle's departure in the 32nd over, the next and the last boundary of the innings came in the 49th over.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND, May 14: Brian Young c Kumble b Joshi 17 (48m, 27b, 1x4); Nathan Astle b Robin Singh 92 (133m, 111b, 10x4); Matthew Horne run out 23 (41m, 31b, 2x4); Stephen Fleming run out 13 (23m, 22b, 1x4); Chris Cairns lbw Robin Singh 3 (10m, 6b); Chris Harris c&b Kumble 3 (30m, 13b); Adam Parore run out 32 (65m, 53b); Deepak Patel run out 10 (19m, 18b); Gavin Larsen b Joshi 12 (19m, 16b, 1x4); Andrew Penn not out 7 (7m, 5b); Heath Davis not out 0. Extras (4 lb, 3 nb, 1 w): 8. Total: (for nine wickets in 50 overs): 220

Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-109, 3-136, 4-147, 5-154, 6-166, 7-185, 8-209, 9-219

Bowling: Prasad 10-0-40-0, Kuruvilla 6-1-37-0, Kumble 10-1-30-1, Joshi 10-0-47-2, Robin Singh 7-0-27-2, Tendulkar 7-0-35-0

INDIA: Saurav Ganguly c Parore b Larsen 62 (145m, 88b, 8x4, 1x6); Sachin Tendulkar b Nathan Astle 117 (188m, 156b, 13x4, 2x6); Rahul Dravid not out 21 (48m, 31b, 2x4); Vinod Kambli not out 4 (5m, 4b, 1x4). Extras: (lb-1, nb-3, w-13) 17; Total: (for two wickets in 42.3 overs) 221

Fall of wickets: 1-169, 2-216

Bowling: Penn 8.3-0-59-0, Davis 5-0-54-0, Larsen 8-2-26-1, Harris 7-1-26-0, Patel 7-0-30-0, Astle 7-0-25-1.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.