Second Gambhir Ton Seals Series For India

Second Gambhir Ton Seals Series For India

Gautam Gambhir's fine form continued as he stroked a second unbeaten century in Vadodara

©REUTERS/Amit Dave (INDIA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

India 229-1 (Gambhir 126no, Kohli 63no) beat
New Zealand 224-9 (Franklin 72no) by 9 wickets
Third One-Day International, Vadodara
Scorecard

Gautam Gambhir's rich vein of form continued as his unbeaten century steered India to a series-clinching nine-wicket win over New Zealand in the third One-Day International in Vadodara.

Gambhir closed unbeaten on 126 as India chased down a target of 225 to go 3-0 up with two matches to play with ten overs and three balls to spare.

James Franklin's unbeaten 72 in 108 balls and 43 from Nathan McCullum helped New Zealand recover from 106 for seven to post a competitive score but with Gambhir in sparkling forrm, it was never enough.

Two wickets apiece from Zaheer Khan, Ravi Aswhin and Yusuf Pathan restricted New Zealand to 224 for nine.

Gambhir then stroked 126 in 117 balls, hitting 16 fours to register his second century in a row, putting on 115 for the first wicket with Murali Vijay (30).

He then joined forces with Virat Kohli and the pair finished the game off in ruthless fashion, Kohli hitting six fours and two sixes in his 70-ball innings of 63 not out.

The loss marked New Zealand's ninth on the trot - the worst run in their history while Gambhir became the eighth Indian captain to score back-to-back ODI centuries.

The fourth match in the series is in Bangalore on 7th December.

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