IND v NZ, 2nd ODI Review: The duo of Karthik and Dhawan help India get back in the series at 1-1

The second ODI was highly anticipated by the neutral fans, following New Zealand’s heroics in the first ODI where Tom Latham and Ross Taylor put up brave performances. Ahead of the second ODI, controversies surrounded the build-up to the match. Pitch curator Pandurang Salgaoncar was suspended following the exploits of a sting operation which exposed the curator for fixing the match.

However, the ODI had to go ahead and did proceed, with New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson winning the toss and elected to bat first in the crucial ODI. New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro made their way to the middle of the pitch at Pune, with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar ready to go.

A flurry of boundaries set the Kiwi openers to a good start before Kumar put the brakes on the opening partnership with an excellent out-swinger to dismiss the right-handed Guptill. Kumar’s swinging deliveries were reading trouble to the Kiwi batsman, who failed to read his length from time to time.

Jasprit Bumrah struck with a crucial wicket of the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson, who did not get any part of his bat on the ball which went on to hit the pads, right in front of the leg stump. Munro, too found his way out when he misread the slower delivery from Bhuvaneshwar Kumar to lead the away side to a score of 27-3 at the end of 7th over. The match-winning duo of Tom Latham and Ross Taylor joined the party and looked in prime form right away.

The partnership between the match-winners of the previous game

A decent partnership was brewing between the duo before Ross Taylor was dismissed by nicking one off to the wicket-keeper MS Dhoni with some extra bounce from Hardik Pandya. Axar Patel was selected ahead of the Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, which stirred a lot of mixed reaction from the Indian fans. However, to the surprise of the Indian fans, the left-arm spinner struck with the crucial wicket of Tom Latham, who failed to read the arm ball from the left-arm spinner.

At 118-5, it looked like a wrap impending for the Indian bowlers, only for Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme to disturb the party. The duo struck the ball sweetly, with the all-rounder Grandhomme looking in devastating form. Nicholls was the first one to be dismissed, getting his stumps rearranged by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. The all-rounder found his way out when he swiped at a delivery from Chahal only to find Bumrah getting hold of the catch at 188/7. Adam Milne was dismissed for a golden duck, before Tim Southee and Trent Boult led the Black Caps to a score of 230 for the loss of nine wickets at the end of their 50 overs.

India’s response

India too had a similar start as their counterpart New Zealand. However, just like the Kiwi side, India too lost their first wicket early in the innings, when the scoreline just read 22. Until that delivery, all that the right-handed Rohit Sharma faced were out-swingers. However, to his surprise, Southee’s delivery was way away from the stumps on to the pads of the right-hander.

Sharma, flicked it straight off the pads to the hands of the Kiwi opener Munro to give the away side a sniffing chance at victory. A brief partnership between Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan put India in the driving seat before Kohli found a knick straight into the hands of the keeper Latham off the all-rounder Grandhomme at 79-2 at the end of 14th over.

Dhawan, however, continued to strike the ball sweetly with Dinesh Karthik watching the southpaw from the non-striker’s end. The southpaw began his innings at a lightning pace, only for him to slow down after the dismissal of his skipper Kohli at the other end. Dhawan reached his 50 runs off 62 balls, before striking another six off the bowling off Santner.

However, Adam Milne’s pace troubled the left-hander and hit the ball on the high-end of the blade straight into the hands of the fielder Taylor. Hardik Pandya was promoted at No.5 and looked very aggressive from Ball 1.

The duo of Pandya-Karthik helped India get closer to the target

Pandya hit the left-arm spinner for a huge six in the second over that he faced while Dinesh Karthik was pushing Pandya for doubles from the other end. An aggressive Pandya got hold off the right-arm pace of Southee, with two quick boundaries to put the match closer in India’s hands. However, Pandya was dismissed by Santner picking out the fielder at the boundary before Karthik completed a well-deserved half-century.

Only three fifties by India’s No. 4 in last 21 ODIs. Two of those by Dinesh Karthik in 3 innings, with the other one coming from Hardik Pandya. Dhoni struck three boundaries, with only seven runs to get from the next six overs. Dhoni and Karthik finished the match off to level the series at 1-1.

Brief scores:

New Zealand: 230/9 in 50 overs; Henry Nicholls: 42(62), Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 3 wickets for 45 runs in 10 overs.

India: 232/4 in 46 overs; Shikhar Dhawan 68(84), Adam Milne – 1 wicket for 21 runs in 8 overs.

Man of the match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar