Thaindian News

Auckland, March 14 (IANS) Persistent rain delayed the start of play in the fifth and final One-Day International (ODI) cricket match between India and New Zealand at Eden Park here Saturday. Umpires Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Gary Baxter (New Zealand) would not hazard a guess as to when play could start unless the rain stopped and they assess the ground condition.

India have already clinched the five-match series 3-0, with one match abandoned due to rain.

The toss and the announcement of teams will be done only after the umpires decide when play would start.

The Indian team management thinks that it could rest some of their key players and still white wash the hosts 4-0.

Some bowlers may be rested ahead of the first Test at Hamilton’s Seddon Park, starting Wednesday. Sachin Tendulkar, who sat out of the last game because of an abdomen injury, is likely to be rested for today’s match.

This the first time an India team won a ODI series in this country and for hosts it is easily their worst defeat at home.

The teams from:

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Jacob Oram, Peter McGlashan (wicketkeeper), Kyle Mills, Iain O’Brien, Jeetan Patel and Ewen Thompson.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Dinesh Karthik.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Gary Baxter.

Third umpire: Evan Watkin.

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.

–Indo-Asian New Service

vs/sh