* The all-rounder's blistering unbeaten century overshadows Franklin's fantastic effort

Just a day after Gautam Gambhir said that Yusuf Pathan deserves more opportunities to express himself, the Baroda big-hitter lived up to the Indian skipper's faith.Yusuf tided past a rain-interruption and made a mockery of an inflationary required-rate while his unbeaten 123 paved the way for India's five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the fourth One Day International of the five-match series at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday night.

Chasing New Zealand's 315 for seven in 50 overs, India finished with 321 for five in 48.5 overs to extend its series-lead to 4-0. The pursuit was never easy after the law of averages caught up with Gambhir (27) and Virat Kohli. Briefly the Delhi-duo's dismissals seemed a minor aberration as Parthiv Patel (53) biffed around and Yuvraj Singh effortlessly hoisted Scott Styris

Published Date : Wednesday, Dec 08, 03:05PM IST