India v New Zealand 5th ODI: India Player Ratings

It was the final ODI and the decider at Visakhapatnam as India took on New Zealand when the 5-match series was squared up at 2 apiece. The game was expected to be a cracker with both teams pushing for victory. It hadn’t been a very high scoring series thus far and the last match didn’t turn out to be too different.

MS Dhoni won the toss and for the first time in the series, India batted first on a slow surface. The openers made a steady start to the innings with Rohit Sharma getting to his first half-century in the series. Virat Kohli was amongst the runs yet again and Dhoni too contributed at number 4. The pitch was not easy to bat as the ball was holding up on the deck. The good knocks from Kedar Jadhav and Axar Patel late in the innings took India to a fighting total of 69 runs.

The New Zealand batting reminded of the Test series as the batsmen just gave it up against the spinners. Amit Mishra bowled brilliantly and picked up a fifer. The other spinners Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav bagged 2 and 1 wickets respectively. There was no restraint from the Kiwis at all and were all-out for 79 runs in the 24th over. India won the match by a whopping 190 runs and won the series 3-2.

Here are the India player ratings from the match:

Ajinkya Rahane – 4/10:

The classical right-hander began well and struck a couple of delightful boundaries early on. He was consuming the most of the strike and was shaping well for a long innings before he chipped one straight to the mid-wicket fielder. He was looking to clear the fielder there but the ball stopped on him and all he could manage was to give him an easy catch.

In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, it was a great opportunity for him to make his case for being the prominent member at the opening slot but he didn’t do justice to it. Here as well, it was the case of going after the bowling too early rather than staying out there and got out after making 20 off 39 balls.

Rohit Sharma – 8/10:

The opener looked closer to his usual game for the first time in 5 ODIs as he scored 70 runs off 65 balls. He took his time early on in the innings as he usually does but took on the attack after Rahane was dismissed.

He got injured midway through the innings and had troubles with running between the wickets and hence he started to look for boundaries to ensure that the pressure did not mount on Virat Kohli at the other end. He hit 5 fours and 3 sixes before getting out in the 22^nd over.

Virat Kohli – 8/10:

The modern master was once again up to his game and crafted a well-balanced half-century. He walked into the scene in the 10^th over when the batting was becoming ever so difficult and constructed a 79-runs partnership with Rohit Sharma.

He was fighting it out on a tough track and was relying on rotating the strike over rather that going for boundaries. He shared another fifty run stand with Dhoni for the 3^rd wicket but lost his wicket later in the 44^th over in the quest for quick runs at the end. He scored 65 runs off 76 balls with 2 fours and a six.

MS Dhoni – 6.5/10:

The skipper once again came out to bat at number 4, something which we might see more of in the future. Initially, Kane Williamson implemented spinners against him as he had struggled in the previous games against them at the start to rotate the strike. Here also, he faced the same issue and the scoring wasn’t fluent from him.

But he made it up to a certain extent with a few big shots and was setting up for a finish on a high. But a straight delivery from Mitchell Santner trapped him in front of the wickets and he had to walk back in the 38^th over. He made 41 runs off 59 balls with 4 fours and a six.

Manish Pandey – 2/10:

Pandey had a day to forget in the field as he failed to score a run and played a silly shot in the context of the match. He walked into bat in the 39^th over when Dhoni had departed and a supporting hand was required for Kohli who was batting well at the other end.

But after playing just 3 balls, he tried to hit against the spin off the leg-spinner Sodhi and held out on the deep mid-wicket boundary. In all the matches he has been guilty of going after the bowling too early. The lack of patience might well cost him a place in the side.

Kedar Jadhav – 7/10:

The right-hander has enjoyed huge success in the series so far, mostly with the ball but here he played a pretty useful hand with the bat. The ball was turning and stopping on the batsmen and even the fast bowlers were rolling their arms over to bowl slower deliveries.

In such a situation, he played the ideal innings of 39 runs off 37 balls and stayed not out till the end. He did not go after the bowling from the beginning and ensured no further loss after Kohli’s departure. He concentrated on batting till the end and only in the last couple of overs, he went for the big strokes.

Also read: India v New Zealand, 5th ODI: 5 Talking Points

Axar Patel – 7/10:

With the bat, the left-hander played a lovely cameo during the slog overs and supported Jadhav beautifully. The duo shared a 46 run stand off 39 balls and took India to a match-winning total of 269 runs. Axar scored 24 runs off 18 balls and struck a four and a six.

With the ball, he had plenty of assistance on offer and made full use of it. He first dismissed the most dangerous Kiwi batsman Kane Williamson for 27 runs and the flood gates opened thereafter. He came back in the second spell to pick up the last wicket of the innings to finish with figures of 9/2 in 4.1 overs.

Jayant Yadav – 6/10:

The off-spinner was in and around the Indian squad for quite some time and finally made his debut in the international arena. With the bat, he came in the last over and faced just one ball of which he managed to pick up a single.

He got the chance to bowl in the 17^th over when half the Kiwi side was already back in the hut. He did not waste much time in getting amongst the wickets as he got Corey Anderson out LBW in his second over for a duck. He bowled just 4 overs and ended with a wicket by conceding just 8 runs.

Amit Mishra – 9.5/10

The leg-spinner had a tremendous time out in the middle as the pitch was tailor-made for his style of bowling. He bowled superb lines and lengths and made life difficult for all the batsmen. The ball was turning miles for him and no batsman could tackle his artistry.

He ended with figures of 18/5 in just 6 overs and accounted for wickets of Ross Taylor, James Neesham, BJ Watling, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi. He totally dismantled the Kiwi batting line up which bundled out for just 79 runs. Mishra was deservedly adjudged the man of the match as well as the series.

Umesh Yadav – 5/10:

The pacer did not have too much to do in the game as the deck was helping the spinners more than the fast bowlers. But he did provide a wonderful start to the innings when he castled Martin Guptill off the 4^th ball of the first over.

Guptill has been his premier victim throughout the series and bagged his wicket for the third time in the last ODI. Here the ball swung away late and the batsman missed the ball which hit his pad and got deflected onto the stumps. He was not required to ball his second spell and his figures read 28/1 in 4 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah – 6/10:

He was making a comeback in the side after missing out in the 4^th ODI due to injury. The return was fruitful as he was given the new ball, unlike previous games. He started well and bowled tight lines and it was not easy for the batsmen to score off him.

He was rewarded with the wicket of Tom Latham in the 6^th over as the left-hander chipped the ball in the air which landed safely in the hands of Jayant Yadav. At the end, he had figures of 16/1 in 5 overs.