At the 30 over mark in their chase for 255 to win, with 18 over left as a result of their being docked two overs due to their slow over rate, India were 137 for four. Sehwag was on 66 with Mohammad Kaif on 19.

Sehwag brought up his half-century off 74 balls having hit six fours.

Disaster struck India soon after however. Sehwag hit a ball from Daniel Vettori to the deep gully area where Stephen Fleming was fielding. Sehwag ambled down the wicket, saw Rahul Dravid coming and so ran while Dravid was well beaten by Fleming's prompt return to McCullum who was positioned perfectly to ensure the run out.

Then moments later, after two balls, Yuvraj Singh went down the wicket to Vettori and missed the ball completely and was so far out of his ground when McCullum had the bails off for the stumping there was no need for the third umpire's involvement. From a cruising position at 104 for two, India were suddenly 104 for four.

Mohammad Kaif joined Sehwag and they started to move the scoring along with 30 runs in five overs, at about the scoring required for India to win.

Daniel Vettori was going at about five runs an over while Paul Hitchcock in his first match in New Zealand was going at the same rate. But the required run rate was getting up to near seven an over.

India were 57 for two after 15 overs.

As if coming off the ground and finding they had been docked two overs and 10% of their match fee was not bad enough, the Indians lost their skipper Sourav Ganguly in the first over when he was beaten by Daryl Tuffey's first two deliveries and survived, but he couldn't hold out the third and was bowled.

Virender Sehwag had a nervous start, reflecting the situation that most batsmen found themselves in when appreciating that they finally had a more batsman friendly surface on which to ply their craft. Very few of them wanted to miss out on the chance. He was 30 not out after 15 overs while Rahul Dravid, who had just come to the wicket, was on three.

Kyle Mills struggled to get his rhythm and length and suffered at the hands of V V S Laxman and he was taken off after only three overs which cost 20 runs. Sehwag had problems dealing with Daryl Tuffey's bowling, several times being beaten by balls just short of a length.

However, they held on and saw Tuffey off after his six overs had costs 13 runs for the one wicket.

Mills was switched to the southern end and immediately improved, with only a no ball against his name.

At the other end, Sehwag was starting to look ominous as the 50 was reached in the 14th over and he was 30 not out off 48 balls.

But in the 15th over, Mills struck to have V V S Laxman caught behind by wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum when dabbing at a straight ball. He was out for 20.

What had looked like a score in the vicinity of 270, was 254/9, the fourth highest score at Napier. But it was short of what it should have been as players fell into the trap of trying to get cute with some of their stroke play when all that was really needed was commonsense application to get a much higher score.

But if the benefit from this effort is that lessons are learned then it might not have been in vain. At least there was some batting to speak of in a match in this series and the prospect that India will face a good challenge to respond to the New Zealanders.

At the 30-over mark New Zealand had been 129 for one wicket.

Astle's innings opened up a little just past the 30-over mark where he clearly realised he needed to get on with it, risking getting out in the race for more runs while aware that there were other batsmen needing an opportunity as well.

He advanced down the wicket to Sanjay Bangar and hit the ball as sweetly as any he has hit this summer to take six runs over long off.

However, when he attempted to go after Sourav Ganguly, his hit was taken at mid-wicket as Zaheer Khan ran around to take a comfortable catch.

It saw him gone for 76 and the partnership broken at 136, two runs short of equalling the record he held with Stephen Fleming after a match in Colombo last year.

Craig McMillan's bid to get among the runs was short-lived as he faced only seven balls before being trapped leg before wicket by Javagal Srinath during his second spell for five runs. New Zealand, in the 36th over were 157 for three wickets.

Lou Vincent, another who has been crying out for some batting time, started out exactly as was required by working the quick singles with some brilliant running. On one occasion he took on Yuvraj Singh who threw to the bowler's end where no-one was backing up and the runners got two.

It was outstanding running at an important stage of the innings.

However, the cooling system didn't seem to be working for Sinclair as a rush of blood, when on 78, against Harbhajan Singh undid him. He attempted a totally unnecessary reverse sweep in which all he succeeded in doing was guiding the ball into Dravid's gloves.

Then, in a bid to keep the scoring moving, the quick singles continued but at mid-on Srinath showed his younger team-mates how it was done by making a direct hit to send Oram on his way for four. Oram was just short of his ground.

Vincent started to find his way, pulling the next ball for four. Then in Harbhajan Singh's next over he achieved a sweep that almost went directly behind the wickets for another four. With five overs to go, New Zealand were 215/5. Vincent was 31 and Brendon McCullum was two.

But on 34, Vincent attempted to step well inside a slower ball from Srinath and play it to fine leg, but he went so far across he just turned the ball on to his wickets and his 32-ball innings had come to its end. New Zealand were 224/6.

Brendon McCullum hit out and was unlucky to hit in the direction of India's best fieldsman by far on the day Yuvraj Singh. He had no problems completing the catch.

Then Kyle Mills couldn't get anything in the way of a yorker from Zaheer Khan and was bowled for five.

Javagal Srinath was again outstanding for India bowling 10 overs and taking three for 34 while Zaheer Khan took three for 47 from his 10 and Harbhajan Singh took one for 56 from his 10.

It was left to the lower order to get New Zealand over the 250-mark in the last over.

Still only one wicket down, the best batting of the summer by either side, New Zealand were 129 for one wicket with Nathan Astle on 63 and Mathew Sinclair on 54.

Their partnership has been worth 119 runs, only 19 short of equalling New Zealand's second wicket record against India.

The 50 partnership between the pair came up in the 16th over and they just worked the ball around, very much like batsmen enjoying the opportunity for some time in the middle, which is exactly what they were.

Sinclair survived a stumping chance from Harbhajan when a deflection off his bat minimised the opportunity for Dravid to get the bails off and the catch itself would have been a great effort.

Harbhajan was unfortunate that three edges from the batsmen didn't have at least one stick. In fact, it had to be wondered if not having a specialist 'keeper in the role prevented a wicket or two being taken.

And it was via this route that Astle brought up his 31st ODI half century with a edge that all but made it to the boundary. The milestone came up from 71 balls in 114 minutes.

Soon after Sinclair hit a lovely delicate cut from Harbhajan to the vacant spaces behind square and the ball rolled into the rope a fraction before the nearest fielder arrived.

That also brought up the 100th partnership in the 27th over.

Sinclair did give himself a boost when coming down the wicket and lifting a ball from Harbhajan over the wide long on boundary for six runs.

In the 30th over, Sinclair scored his fourth ODI half century, off 90 balls.

New Zealand, having been asked to bat first had made it through to 59 for one wicket after 15 overs. Nathan Astle was shaping towards his best innings of the summer on 35 not out while Mathew Sinclair was 17 not out.

Astle had a lucky escape of the first ball of the second over. Zaheer Khan got a ball to lift on Astle and he attempted to swing it away but the ball took him on the body and dropped onto the stumps. The Indian delight was momentary, because Asoka de Silva had his arm out for a no ball.

While Astle was having trouble putting bat to ball, an off drive for three got him underway. Stephen Fleming tried to blast a ball straight back over Javagal Srinath's head from the fifth ball of the third over, but it skewed away to extra cover, where Mohammad Kaif, running just outside the circle held a difficult chance. New Zealand were 10 for one with Fleming out for one.

Mathew Sinclair joined Astle and struggled to find his touch, but Astle, having spent a little time at the crease, found the changeover from Zaheer Khan to Ashish Nehra provided the freedom he needed. He hit the first boundary of the innings in the eighth over, a shot off his hip to backward square leg, and then later in the over had a cover drive just make it across a surprisingly slow outfield to hit the rope just ahead of the diving fieldsman's hand.

In Srinath's fifth over, Sinclair started to find his rhythm with a cover driven boundary remarkably similar to that scored by Astle and then followed that with two, also through the covers.

The tenth over, was also productive for New Zealand, yielding eight runs, as Astle worked the ball around the compass square of the wicket on the off-side for four twos.

New Zealand reached that stage at 43 for one with Astle on 28 and Sinclair on 11.

Zaheer replaced Srinath, whose first spell finished with one for 14 off six overs, and immediately the runs dried up. Two were taken from the 12th over, one from the 13th and one from the 14th. The 50 was posted off 85 balls.

Some clumsy Indian fielding off the first ball of the 15th over resulted in a missed opportunity to put some pressure on Astle. Astle played the ball just behind square and looked for two runs. It would have been tight, but fine leg fieldsman on the fielding circle, Ashish Nehra ran across in front of the advancing Sanjay Bangar and took the ball with no chance of making a quick return. Bangar was in much the better possession but was shut out.

Astle then dropped a cut shot into the ground which bounced over the point fieldsman and then ran away to the boundary.

The forecast rain showers look a distant prospect and the scene has been set for a dynamic match in front of a full house of about 10,000.

New Zealand, as expected, left Shane Bond out of this match, although the temptation must have been there to let him loose on one of the faster tracks in the country so far this summer.

But, given New Zealand's history of bowlers breaking down, it is probably the wiser move to let him have a break with the World Cup in mind.

Paul Hitchcock comes into the side in his place and New Zealand will be looking to see how he handles the prospective last over assault.

India have not included Sachin Tendulkar who is still not quite over an ankle injury suffered in training before the first ODI.

Harbhajan Singh has come back into the side in place of Anil Kumble while Sanjay Bangar replaces Shiv Sunder Das, greatly strengthening the Indian side as they seek their first victory on what has been a lean tour of New Zealand so far.

New Zealand lead the series 1-0.

The umpires are: Doug Cowie (New Zealand) and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka).

The teams are:

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Paul Hitchcock. Shane Bond (12th man).

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sanjay Bangar, Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra. Agit Agarkar (12th man).