Dambulla: India cruised into the finals of the tri-series to meet Sri lanka as M S Dhoni's boys inflicted a crushing defeat on New Zealand by 105 runs here on Wednesday.
Batting first after winning the toss, India made 223 in 46.3 overs with 110 from Virender Sehwag, his 13th ODI 100, and then bundled out New Zealand 118 in 30.1 overs, their lowest in recent times.
Fine bowling from Munaf Patel, taking three wickets from 21 runs in seven overs, and Praveen Kumar's 3/34 helped India's entry into the finals.
Indian batting, propelled by a brilliant century from Virender Sehwag and his vital partnership of 107-run with skipper MS Dhoni, helped them to post a moderate score on the board.
Apart from these one of the batsmen succeeded.
Tim Southee and Nathan McCullum were the best bowlers as they hunted 7 wickets between them.
Defending a modest total of 223 runs, Praveen Kumar (3/34) started the Kiwis decline from the very first over by getting Guptill's wicket.
After that they kept pegging the New Zealanders on with regular wickets and did not let them settle.
A late onslaught by Kyle Mills (52 off 35b), however, helped them to cross the 100 mark.
Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra did a good job and claimed 5 wickets between them.