In a disastrous result just five days ahead of their first World Cup match, India suffered a shock 32-run defeat to Kwa-Zulu Natal in their second and final warm-up match in Durban on Thursday.
The ghosts of the New Zealand tour came to haunt the Indians once again as their celebrated batting line-up could muster just 158 before being shot out in 38.2 overs by a mediocre bowling attack.
The local team had earlier scored 190 for nine in their stipulated 50 overs after being put in to bat.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly (6), Sachin Tendulkar (9), Dinesh Mongia (0), Mohammad Kaif (2) and Sanjay Bangar (1) together could account for just 18 runs as the bulk of the scoring was done by the tailenders.
Virender Sehwag was the only batsman who was able to keep his reputation intact, top-scoring with 40 runs.
Ajit Agarkar (26), Harbhajan Singh (25), Parthiv Patel (15) and Anil Kumble (15) saved India some blushes, as at seven down for 88 in the 19th over, the team was in real danger of being shot out within the three-figure mark.
Ironically, it was an Indian-origin bowler, Yadeen Singh, who wrecked the Indian innings, claiming the prized wickets of Ganguly, Tendulkar and Sehwag. He returned figures of 3 for 38 from eight overs.
Brief Scores:
Indians vs KwaZulu-Natal
Toss: Indians
Result: KwaZulu-Natal won by 32 runs
KwaZulu-Natal: 190-9 (50 ov)
(D Watson 50, S Ganguly 16-2)
Indians: 158 all out (38.2)
(V Sehwag 40, Y Singh 38-3)
Australians vs Northerns
Toss: Australians
Result: Australians won by 5 wickets
Northerns: 277 (49.5)
(J Rudolph 150, B Lee 28-4)
Australians: 278-5 (47.2)
(A Gilchrist 71, J Maher 78*)
South Africans vs Western Province
Toss: Western Province
Result: South Africans won by 92 runs
South Africans: 327-7 (50)
(G Kirsten 100*, A Hall 106)
Western Province: 235 (46.3)
(A Puttick 78, Klusener 24-2)
Pakistanis vs Easterns
Toss: Pakistanis
Result: Easterns won by 31 runs
Easterns: 215/9 (50)
(P de Bruyn 41*, W Younis 33-3)
Pakistanis: 189 (36.4)
(S Afridi 46, P de Bruyn 46-4)
