Gautam Gambhir continued his return to form and gave India a favourable start in their chase of a fighting total set by New Zealand. At the halfway mark, Gambhir was unbeaten on 67 from 60 balls, out of India's 126.
M Vijay's struggles at the other end highlighted how well Gambhir batted. New Zealand started with a spinner, presumably to get through some of Nathan McCullum's overs before dew made it difficult for him to grip the ball. From then on, Vijay struggled with the slowness of the pitch.
Gambhir, though, timed almost everything sweetly except for a couple of inside edges that went for fours. Against Kyle Mills, he walked down the pitch on a couple of occasions to create the driving length. When Mills pitched slightly short, he cut him away. The driving between mid-off and extra cover stood out.
By the end of the eight over, Gambhir had scored four times Vijay's eight, taking India to 40, and putting Mills out of the attack. Against Scott Styris he made room and went over extra cover. Andy McKay strayed too straight, and was clipped for four into the leg side. There was not a hint of power; the short back lift emphasised how well he timed the ball.
Vijay continued his patchy innings until he tried a premeditated slog-sweep off Daniel Vettori in the 18th over, and was bowled. Gambhir, though, had reached 54 off 48 by then, out of India's 87, and the loss of Vijay did not hold him back: he kept going over midwicket and extra cover. A crucial moment came in the 22nd over when Gambhir's bat got stuck into the ground as he tried to slide it in, but Vettori failed to collect the throw cleanly and Gambhir was let off.
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