All-round Ryder scripts resounding consolation win for New Zealand

Cricket/New Zealand,

A team in the doldrums after three comprehensive defeats sprung back to life thanks to the all-round efforts of their most exciting and marketable young cricketer, Jesse Ryder. His miserly spell of 3 for 29 sunk India to a paltry 149, but it was his delightful exhibition of lusty hitting which caught the imagination of the capacity crowd at the Eden Park stadium. Supported by an equally stylish Martin Guptill - who slammed an unbeaten 57 - Ryder put New Zealand on the path to a consolation win. His only blemish was that he could not stay till the end.

It was as if New Zealand were playing on a different surface. The kind of swing which their bowlers managed in India's innings was seemingly absent under lights and the ease with which Ryder went about bludgeoning the bowlers over the on side with exquisite pulls showed how the Indians were outplayed in the batting department.
India's only chance of mounting a fightback was to pick up early wickets but after Brendon McCullum's dismissal in the third over, they had to wait more than 12 overs for their next breakthrough, by which time Ryder and Guptill had already added 84.
Guptill and Ryder are New Zealand's most exciting batting talents and the cheers from the packed Eden Park stadium for their rising stars never died down. Perhaps the busiest people at the venue were the workers at the construction site on one side of the ground who had to fish the ball out of the rubble and unfinished stands.