India (267 for 4) beat New Zealand (265-8) by 6 wickets
When WB Yeats wrote, "a terrible beauty is born", he certainly wasn't thinking of destruction on a cricket field. But there was something frightening (for the New Zealanders) and beautiful (if you happen to be an Indian) about the innings that Virender Sehwag played today. After India's bowlers had been taken apart to the tune of 264 from 50 overs, Sehwag's pyrotechnics at the top of the order ensured that his team cruised home with something to spare.

New Zealand had elected to bat first and made the most sedate of starts. They lost Matthew Sinclair early but Stephen Fleming and the tenacious Nathan Astle built the innings brick by brick. Once they crossed the 100 mark, they shifted through the gears so quickly that the Indian bowlers were left to choke on the dust. Fleming was back to his elegant best, playing some gorgeous strokes through the off-side and reaching his 50 from 76 deliveries. He was eventually dismissed for 66 (91 balls), stumped by Dighe as he gave Yuvraj the charge. McMillan went cheaply, an appalling reverse sweep easily taken at point, but Lou Vincent and Astle didn't miss a trick as they piled on the runs.

Astle (108) brought up his second century of the series with a pushed single and was eventually dismissed going for the inside-out shot over cover. Vincent struck three fours and two sixes in his rapid-fire 45 as New Zealand finished with a fusillade of shots. Ashish Nehra came back to claim three victims at the end but 265 was a daunting target.

That was the cue for Sehwag to come in and tear the script to tiny pieces. Nineteen boundaries and a six over long-on represented as entertaining an exhibition of strokeplay as you will ever see. It was an innings that had everything, from sweetly timed cover-drives and bludgeoned pulls to deft deflections and the odd fortuitous edge. The sixth quickest century in limited overs history was brought up in 70 deliveries and spoilt only by the inside edged cut to which he perished a ball later, McMillan the bowler. Laxman was bowled through the gate soon after but there were to be no comebacks for New Zealand.

Ganguly's return to something like his best form (64 from 103 balls) was cut short when he top edged a sweep to Fleming off Harris, but Rahul Dravid and Hemang Badani made sure there would be no hiccups with an entertaining 73 run partnership that saw the Indians home with a massive 26 deliveries to spare. Dravid's 57 was his best innings of the tour and the Indian juggernaut - which bumped along for the first three matches in low gear - is on a roll going into Sunday's final against Sri Lanka, a team they beat comprehensively in their last two meetings.

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