JOIN USBattling New Zealand pull level
A big knock was long overdue for Kane Williamson, and so was New Zealand’s fightback. Both arrived on Thursday to trouble India, before the hosts launched a thrilling comeback to push the contest to the wire. They, however, fell short by six runs as the visitors levelled the one-day series 1-1 at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.
Chasing New Zealand’s 242 for 9, fashioned by captain Williamson’s eighth one-day international century, India slipped to 172 for 6 before Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav stitched a 49-run ninth wicket partnership to drain the colour from the visitors’ faces.
However, Pandya, playing a poor shot, was caught off Boult in the 49th over to halt India’s rampant strides. Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t fill in the shoes as the Indians folded for 236 runs in 49.3 overs.
Before that, New Zealand had cut the Indian batting order to 73/4 in 20 overs. In front of a full house, Rohit Sharma nicked while driving off Boult, leaving the ground in a grimace, holding his right arm. Rahane pulled Tim Southee’s short delivery to Corey Anderson, the replays taking an eternity to confirm the catch. Local boy Virat Kohli was taken down the legside by wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi while Manish Pandey ended his restless stay with a run out.
It left captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the onerous task of guiding the chase. The stage was tailor-made for a typical Dhoni innings, and he began in right earnest. He found the gaps cleverly, rotated the strike and dismissed anything loose to the boundary ropes. In the 66-run fifth wicket partnership, he allowed Kedar Jadhav to dominate. However, after hitting two sixes and two boundaries, Jadhav steered Henry to the wicket-keeper.
With Axar Patel, Dhoni collated another 33 runs to keep India in the hunt. But once Dhoni fell to a return catch off Southee, the momentum shifted.
Earlier, the Indians came up with a fine bowling effort with Bumrah standing out with his death over spell and leg-spinner Amit Mishra digging into his vast experience to break partnerships. In the end, Williamson’s knock became the difference between the two sides.
After the Kiwis were put into bat, Yadav knocked the off-stump of a clueless Martin Guptill in the second ball of the innings but that barely caused jitters in the New Zealand camp. Latham, their best batsman of the series, and Williamson comfortably kept the board ticking.
Williamson played with conviction after a cautious start. He scored heavily on the onside and often flicked with a certain relish anything that was pitched between the middle and leg stumps. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel got a harsh treatment as Williamson lofted him for a six and two boundaries in the 13th over, Latham provided steady support to shape the New Zealand's challenge. The Indian bowlers, after an initial flourish, had begun to look predictable before part-time spinner Jadhav found the breakthrough by trapping Latham leg before.
His dismissal stifled the run-flow, partially aided by the promotion of a struggling Ross Taylor. Taylor’s stay ended with a slog to deep midwicket off Mishra. Anderson and Williamson instantly slipped into the rescue act with their 46-run stand, during which the New Zealand captain also brought up his century. But Mishra removed both within two overs. Anderson was caught plumb in front. Williamson, trying to force the pace, came down but couldn’t get under the ball. His lofted straight drive was caught by Rahane who sprinted from long-on.
Their fall triggered an instant collapse, hastened by the crafty Bumrah and some brilliant fielding.
From 204/3 they slipped to 237/9, losing six wickets in 52 balls and 33 runs. When their turn came to bat, India, too, dug themselves into a hole by losing wickets early and could never recover.
score board
NEW ZEALAND
Guptill b Yadav 0
(2b)
Latham lbw b Jadhav 46
(46b, 6x4, 1x6)
Willamson c Rahane b Mishra 118
(128b, 14x4, 1x6)
Taylor c Sharma b Mishra 21
(42b, 2x4)
Anderson lbw b Mishra 21
(32b, 2x4)
Ronchi c Dhoni b Axar 6
(10b)
Santner (not out) 9
(16b)
Devcich c Axar b Bumrah 7
(6b)
Southee b Bumrah 0
(2b)
Henry b Bumrah 6
(12b)
Boult (not out) 5
(4b, 1x4)
Extras: (W-3) 3
Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 242
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Guptill), 2-120 (Latham), 3-158 (Taylor), 4-204 (Anderson), 5-213 (Williamson), 6-216 (Ronchi), 7-224 (Devcich), 8-225 (Southee), 9-237 (Henry)
Bowling: Umesh Yadav 9-0-42-1 (W-2), Hardik Pandya 9-0-45-0, (w-1), Jasprit Bumrah 10-0-35-3, Axar Patel 10-0-49-1, Amit Mishra 10-0-60-3, Kedar Jadhav 2-0-11-1.
INDIA
Sharma c Ronchi b Boult 15
(27b, 1x4, 1x6)
Rahane c Anderson b Southee 28
(49b, 3x4)
Kohli c Ronchi bt Santner 9
(13b, 1x4)
Pandey (run out) 19
(25b, 1x6)
Dhoni c&b Southee 39
(65b, 3x4)
Jadhav c Ronchi b Henry 41
(37b, 2x4, 2x6)
Axar c Santner b Guptill 17
(22b, 1x6)
Pandya c Santner b Boult 36
(32b, 3x4)
Mishra c sub b Guptill 1
(3b)
Yadav (not out) 18
(23b)
Bumrah b Southee 0
(1b)
Exras: (LB-5, W-8) 13
Total (all out, 49.3 overs) 236
Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Sharma), 2-40 (Kohli), 3-72 (Rahane), 4-73 (Pandey), 5-139 (Jadhav), 6-172 (Dhoni), 7-180 (Axar), 8-183 (Mishra), 9-232 (Pandya).
Bowling: Matt Henry10-0-51-1 Trent Boult 10-2-25-2, Tim Southee 9.3-0-52-3 (W-1), Anton Devcich 9-0-48-0 (W-2), Mitchell Santner 10-0-49-1 (W-1), Martin Guptill 1-0-6-2 (W-4).
Third ODI: Mohali, October 23