Successful New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was at last able to reflect on a victory where conditions were well down on the list of things to talk about from the game.

New Zealand took full advantage of a good one-day pitch in Napier to beat India by 35 runs and go 2-0 up in the seven-match series.

"It was a good game of cricket, the guys played very well and they enjoyed the challenge of the wicket today, the bowlers probably enjoyed the challenge as well actually having to muck in and get the ball in the right areas and do some hard yards. I'm very pleased with our fielding performance and very, very pleased with the win.

"We felt pretty comfortable with 254. You could always ask for more but we thought the groundwork was done pretty well. We had a good partnership at the top and there were good cameos throughout. The running between the wickets was a stand out and probably the basics were done very well throughout the day and that's where we out-scored India the most.

"You saw some very good shot-making today and you also saw a very good game of cricket," he said.

The New Zealanders have been on the receiving end of the Indian batting in the past and have known all through the tour what they were likely to do in good conditions. Fortunately for them it was only Virender Sehwag who took advantage of the situation.

"You finally saw today what they are capable of. We've known that the whole way through. It was good today to see one of them fire but us still have a win."

The bowlers had continued the good job they had been doing all season and Daryl Tuffey was leading the way.

"We bowled in good channels and good areas to these guys," he said.

Mathew Sinclair went a long way towards cementing his World Cup berth with a score of 78 and a share in a 136-run partnership with Nathan Astle for the second wicket, a stand that fell two runs short of equalling the record for the wicket against India.

"It's been a long time coming," Sinclair said, "but obviously with the World Cup coming it's good to get some of that form under my belt."

He said that his prior knowledge of what to expect from the pitch as the result of playing in the Central Districts side that met India in their pre-Test warm-up match had been useful in his batting today.

Wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum, in only his second One-Day International wearing the gloves had an outstanding day with a highly-polished performance and a share of the New Zealand record for ODIs. His four catches and a stumping equalled the five dismissals made by Adam Parore against the West Indies in Goa in India in 1994/95.

"I wasn't aware of the record. The bowlers have got to nick them and it was nice to get underway with a straightforward one at the start.

"I'm happy with the way things are going at the moment.

"It's great to turn in a reasonable performance," he said.

McCullum said the players were feeling the heat from other players around the country but he thought that was good for everyone.

And as the 'keeper who has to do the hard work behind the stumps no matter the pitch conditions, he found the going a lot easier today than in the first match in Auckland.

© CricInfo