India sweeps series with thumping win

Having taken a metal pounding in the first four games, the Kiwis caved in on a pleasant afternoon at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.

The rampant India's 5-0 ODI series sweep was set up by the bowlers. Skittled out for 103, the Kiwis were down for the count.

Then, Parthiv Patel (56 not out) and Man-of-the-Match Yuvraj Singh (42 not out) powered India to a thumping eight-wicket victory with as many as 173 deliveries to spare; this is India's biggest win in terms of balls against New Zealand. And India's only previous 5-0 sweep was against England at home in the 2008/09 season.

The Kiwi spinners struck early when India chased. Skipper Gautam Gambhir was caught behind attempting to cut Nathan McCullum and Virat Kohli was flummoxed by a delivery of bite and turn from Daniel Vettori.

Despite his failure here, the left-handed Gambhir was adjudged Player-of-the-Series for 329 runs — including two centuries — at 109.66 in the series.