BANGALORE, India (AFP) — India survived a mini collapse to sweep the series against a fighting New Zealand with a five-wicket victory on the penultimate day of the second and final Test in Bangalore yesterday.

The hosts slipped from 152-2 to 166-5 before achieving their 261-run target in the final session, thanks to a 96-run stand between manof-the-match Virat Kohli (51 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 not out) under pressure.

India won the opening Test by an innings and 115 runs in Hyderabad.

New Zealand fought well as they twice neutralised India’s advantage to storm back into the match on a good pitch before Dhoni and Kohli steered their team home, much to the delight of the nearly 15,000 spectators.

The Indian captain finished the match with a six over mid-wicket off off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who took three wickets. Dhoni hit two sixes and three fours, while Kohli cracked nine fours.

The 2-0 win in India’s first series after the retirement of batting stars Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman augured well for them ahead of tougher home assignments against England and Australia, who play four Tests each this season.

India’s Test image also got a boost, especially after a dismal overseas run in the past 12 months which saw them crash to eight successive defeats, four each in England and Australia.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand 1st innings 365

India 1st innings 353

New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 232-9)

B McCullum c Dhoni b Yadav 23

M Guptill b Yadav 7

K Williamson c Sehwag b Ashwin 13

R Taylor lbw b Ojha 35

D Flynn c Sehwag b Ashwin 31

J Franklin st Dhoni b Ashwin 41

K van Wyk lbw b Ashwin 31

D Bracewell lbw b Ojha 22

T Southee b Ashwin 2

J Patel c Dhoni b Zaheer 22

T Boult not out 4

Extras (b4, lb12, w1) 17

Total (for all out; 732 overs) 248

Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Guptill), 2-31 (McCullum),

3-69 (Williamson), 4-111 (Taylor), 5-140 (Flynn),

6-195 (van Wyk), 7-216 (Franklin), 8-222

(Southee), 9-222 (Bracewell), 10-248 (Patel)

Bowling: Zaheer 142-2-46-1, Yadav 15-0-68-2

(w1), Ojha 21-6-49-2, Ashwin 22-1-69-5, Raina

1-1-0-0

India 2nd innings

G Gambhir c Taylor b Boult 34

V Sehwag b Patel 38

C Pujara c Flynn b Patel 48

S Tendulkar b Southee 27

V Kohli not out 51

S Raina b Patel 0

MS Dhoni not out 48

Extras (b4, lb6, nb1, w5) 16

Total (for five wickets; 632 overs) 262

Fall of wickets: 1-77 (Sehwag), 2-83 (Gambhir),

3-152 (Tendulkar), 4-158 (Pujara), 5-166

(Raina)

Bowling: Boult 16-4-64-1, Southee 18-3-68-1

(w5), Bracewell 14-3-52-0 (nb1), Patel 152-3-

68-3

Result: India win by five wickets; clinch two-

Test series 2-0

Man of the match: V Kohli (IND)

Man of the series: R Ashwin (IND)

Toss: New Zealand

Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Steve Davis (AUS)

TV umpire: Sudhir Asnani (IND)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)