New Zealand vs India, 2nd ODI - Who Said What

New Zealand capitulated once again in front of the spinners at the Bay Oval. Only difference this time was the fact that they were batting second. The trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav shared seven wickets between them on the day as the hosts were bundled out for just 234 runs chasing 325. Earlier, it was a clinical effort from the batsmen as each of the top six was amongst the runs to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a great start upfront after a long time in the ODIs. The duo put on an exhibition of some delightful strokes to score 154 runs for the first wicket after which consistent partnerships always kept them abreast with the run-rate. After 30 overs, at 173/2, they were looking good to double the score. But Virat Kohli’s wicket pegged the visitors back a bit.

Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni took a bit of time to get going. The run-rate never went sky high and just when one felt that New Zealand were pulling things back, the last three overs of the innings went haywire for them. The master of finishes, Dhoni cleverly collected runs by smashing five fours and a six during his 48-run knock and stayed unbeaten for the fourth consecutive time this year.

India posted 324 runs for the loss of four wickets after 50 overs thanks to Kedar Jadhav’s little cameo in which he smashed 22 off just 10 balls.

Kiwis lose it in the first half of the chase

New Zealand, frankly, never looked like chasing the total. India’s new ball bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami kept things quiet in the first few overs and got two big wickets of Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill. The spinners took control of the proceedings then and bamboozled the opposition.

New Zealand didn’t have any answers to their variations and apart from Doug Bracewell, nobody stuck around. They lost six wickets within 27 overs itself and only formalities were left when Bracewell put up a stunning fight. It wasn’t enough either and India comfortably extended their lead with a 90-run victory.

Man of the Match, Rohit Sharma said:

Good feeling (on his performance) but more importantly, we won the match. We didn’t know how the pitch will behave. The last time when SL and NZ played here, it was a high scoring game.

When we got 324, we thought it was a par score and not a big score. Credit to our bowlers for doing a good job. (On his 14 century stands with Dhawan) We know each other since long and have a good understanding.

Important for the team to get a good start and I have always enjoyed batting with Shikhar, I am sure it’s the same for him too. Lovely ground here and it was nice to see such a big crowd on an open ground.

India captain, Virat Kohli said:

Clinical performance again. We had a par score as Rohit mentioned with the kind of pitch and boundary dimensions here. But we bowled really well and back-to-back clinical performances is really pleasing. I made a conscious effort after the second drinks break to take some risks. Once I got out, the new batsman had to take time.

These are the things we need to look into with the World Cup nearby. We would like to score those 15-20 runs extra but at the same time, good to see us chip our way to a balanced total. They are always ready to bowl for you and pick wickets, which is key.

They are not content to go wicketless for 40 runs in their quota, they’d rather have more wickets for 60. That mindset is crucial for us and as is Rohit and Shikhar at the top.

New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson said:

Little frustrating, not so much the loss but how we are losing is the problem. Credit to India. Both surfaces so far have been slower than usual but still fair surfaces. Good signs with the ball at some points though we never got control as such.

324 was a good score that could be chased down here. There were some good steps forward, particularly by our bowlers to keep them down to 320-odd.

Important not to carried away by results and focus just on small steps. Some of the dismissals were a result of us going too hard maybe. If we had wickets in hand, you never know but we didn’t have wickets in hand. Those are the lessons that we need to take ahead.

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