Potchefstroom, Sept. 20: Whether Gautam Gambhir is back to full fitness or not remained unanswered in the Indians’ only practice game ahead of the 2009 Champions Trophy, against the New Zealanders here on Sunday, with the team management opting to give him some more time to recover ahead of the opening game against Pakistan on September 26.

In his absence, as also those of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, the Indians were taken to the cleaners by the Kiwis, conceding a substantial 301/9 in 50 overs as the Indians’ quicks gave away runs by the bushel.

Ahead of their departure from Mumbai, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said the bowling was not a problem. That was however, given short shrift by the Kiwis who lined up to cash in on the offerings from Praveen Kumar (0/48 in five overs), Rudra Pratap Singh (1/66 in eight overs) and Ishant Sharma (1/49 in seven).

That however, is a secondary issue. With Gambhir having passed his fitness test and included thereafter in the squad for this tournament, it stood to reason that he would get a run in this game. That it was still not to be, suggests that he is being given the maximum possible time to recover from the groin strain that kept him out of the Compaq Cup-winning side.

The absence of the others — Tendulkar with his match-winning hundred against hosts Sri Lanka at the Premadasa stadium and Harbhajan Singh with his five-for in that game — may merit a break ahead of the action here, but it made little sense not to have fielded the opener and Nehra.

The Kiwis started briskly, eased up in the middle overs thanks to some restrictive stuff from leg-spinner Amit Mishra (1/29 in 10 overs) and offie Yusuf Pathan (3/46 in 10) but a late charge mounted by Neil Broom (66, 45b, 5x4, 4x6) who fell off the last ball of the innings boosted them substantially.

Jesse Ryder (57, 48b, 10x4, 1x6) and Martin Guptill (63, 79b, 8x4, 1x6) got the Kiwis going briskly after Brendon McCullum’s early fall, and though there was a mini-slump in midi-innings, Broom’s thrash at the end boosted the New Zealanders’ — winners in the 2000 final over India — just the sort of late surge every team looks for in 50-over cricket.

Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten thus will have found no answers, for the opening slot as well as the final composition of the fast attack, at least from this match. With Rahul Dravid once again pushed up the order alongside Dinesh Karthik in India XI’s reply, it is still status quo when it comes to a final XI for the game against Pakistan at Centurion in six days time.

Elsewhere, Mahela Jayawardena (67) helped Sri Lanka XI beat West Indies XI by five wickets.

The Caribbean side were shot out for 201 in 45.1 overs. The Lankans, in reply, romped home with 15 balls to spare.

Scores: New Zealand XI 301/9 in 50 overs (Broom 66, Guptill 63; Yusuf 3/46) vs India XI