Kolkata: Leaving behind his Saturday's disappointing display, the talented Rohan Bopanna came good at the right moment fashioning an emphatic straight set win over James Shortall to lead India to the Davis Cup World Group play-off with a thumping 4- 1 triumph over New Zealand on Sunday.

It proved to be a highly rewarding day for the hosts, as estranged doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reunited on the court, albeit briefly, in the morning and played vintage tennis to overwhelm Kiwi Alistair Hunt and Mark Nielsen and put the hosts ahead 2-1 in the Asia-Oceania Group I second round tie.

While Paes and Bhupathi won 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2 in 100 minutes, Bopanna took 13 minutes less to annihilate Shortall 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the first reverse singles on the South Club lawns, reducing the fifth match into a dead rubber.

Davis Cup wizard Paes then exhibited his awesome form once again, to steamroll a clueless Robert Cheyne 6-1, 6-0 in the inconsequential second reverse singles to register his 65th victory in the tournament.

Paes had earlier scripted an authoritative straight set win over Mark Nielsen in the opening singles on Friday, before Bopanna went down to Alistair Hunt in a gruelling five setter on Saturday.

The morning brought cheers among the spectators in the near-capacity venue as Bhupathi and Paes, affectionately called the 'Indian Express' for their splendid display in the doubles circuit, rejoined forces on the court.

The duo, who split for the second time last year due to personal differences and chose their separate partners in the professional circuit, had last played together against Japan in the preceding round of the tournament two months back at New Delhi and made mince-meat of June Kato and Thomas Shimada.

But on Sunday the fancied pair initially seemed tentative on serve. Paes conceded three break points in the opening game, before rallying back to win five points in a row and retain the serve, but Bhupathi was broken in the third game.

The reverse acted like a wake-up call for the Indians, who reworked their old magic to perfection and broke the New Zealanders in the very next game to draw parity at 2- 2.

Thereafter, 'Lee-Hesh' proved unstoppable. They conceded only one more point in three service games and broke Nielsen in the eighth, before Paes fired on all cylinders in the ninth, unleashing three aces to finish the first set 6-3.

As the game progressed, the Indians improved their cohesion, with Leander covering the court well, sending down lethal serves, spectacular down the line shots and cross court returns.

PTI