Second best for now

New Zealand have leapt to their highest one-day cricket world ranking in five years, but need to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow to stay there.

A staggering 200-run win over India in Dambulla saw New Zealand climb to second behind Australia on the ICC's ODI rankings, a lofty post they last held in January 2005.

Victory over the hosts and tournament favourites tomorrow night would maintain their ranking spot and virtually guarantee them a place in the August 28 final, while the ICC confirmed defeat would see New Zealand slip back to third behind India.

New Zealand's ODI ranking hovered around No4 for the past year which included their runner-up finish in last year's Champions Trophy and a 3-2 home series defeat to world No1 Australia.

The Dambulla victory was New Zealand's fourth-largest ODI margin by runs and comfortably their best against India, whose innings of 88 was their fifth-lowest in all ODIs.

Having started the tournament as $5 outsiders, without Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, New Zealand's best-laid plans were too much for India and lifted them into contention for a repeat of their 2003 tri-series triumph at the same venue.

Knowing the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium pitch would offer bounce, and that the floodlights were notoriously dodgy, New Zealand didn't play a specialist spinner and picked four pacemen as captain Ross Taylor batted first on winning the toss.

Taylor [95] and Scott Styris [89] milked India's spin-heavy attack, adding a New Zealand record fourth-wicket stand of 190 before the tourists were dismissed for 288.

Then Daryl Tuffey [3-34 and a brilliant run out of captain MS Dhoni] and Kyle Mills [2-26] did the damage up front with handy backup from paceman Andy McKay and Jacob Oram. India struggled without rested batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir.

"Players in the subcontinent generally don't like the ball anywhere above the waist," Styris said.

"This [pitch] has lot more bounce and we learnt that during the practice sessions. We really wanted to put some short balls in there.

"We had four fast bowlers and they had three. That was the difference. We knew that they didn't have reserves."

While it worked to perfection for New Zealand, the toss could become hugely influential in coming matches, with batting a lot tougher under lights.

Taylor said opener BJ Watling would be assessed today after he was struck down by "Delhi belly" on Monday, which handed Peter Ingram a reprieve. Allrounder Nathan McCullum could also be considered, given the pitch offered more turn than expected, after his late arrival due to the birth of his child.

Taylor's performance, which rescued New Zealand from 28 for three, also confirmed his Midas touch as stand-in captain as he prepares to take over from Vettori, who could hand over the reins after next year's World Cup.

This was Taylor's second ODI as skipper after the Napier match against Australia in March, when his innings of 70 helped New Zealand chase down 276.

"I just try and motivate the guys and get the best out of them. On the field I try to lead from the front and set as attacking fields as possible," Taylor said.

"I'm still relatively new in this role and I'm enjoying it all the same."

- © Fairfax NZ News