Indore: New Zealand overcame a valiant 124 off 108 balls from the talismanic Virat Kohli to clinch a 41-run victory and seal a historic 2-1 win in the ODI series decider at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.
Knocks of 137 and 106 from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips took New Zealand to a commanding 337/8 on a two-paced black soil pitch, before the visitors held their nerve to overcome Kohli’s valiant 54th ODI century, and bowl out India for 296 in 46 overs. Kyle Jamieson and Zakary Foulkes picked three wickets each as the result gave New Zealand their first-ever ODI series win on Indian soil, after being 1-0 behind last week.
India’s chase faltered early as Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul departed cheaply, leaving the hosts reeling at 71/4. Kohli (124 off 108 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (53) revived the hosts’ hopes with a fighting 88-run partnership, while Harshit Rana added late fireworks via a 43-ball 52. But the target eventually proved to be out of India’s reach, as the result marked India’s fifth home ODI series defeat since 2010.
India’s chase began brightly, as they raced to 28 runs in the first three overs. But Rohit’s knock ended in the fourth over when he tamely lobbed a flick to mid-on off Foulkes. Jamieson then produced a sharp nip-backer from outside off, which beat Gill’s defence and deflected off the pad to crash into the stumps.
Kohli, after being troubled by Jamieson’s bounce and movement, pulled and walloped his way to hit four quick boundaries off Foulkes, Jamieson, and Kristian Clarke. But wickets continued to fall from the other end as Iyer miscued a short delivery straight to mid-on off Clarke, while Rahul was deceived by grip and turn from Jayden Lennox and was forced to give a catch off a check drive to extra cover.
Taking charge in the chase, Kohli reached his fifty in 51 balls, and his impeccable timing was on display when his trademark flick sped past deep square-leg despite being played as a strike-rotation shot. From the other end, an assured Reddy complemented Kohli by striking four boundaries while his swivelling pull off Foulkes and a slog-sweep off Glenn Phillips, fetching him sixes, were the standout shots, with the second one getting him a maiden ODI fifty.
The duo’s run-a-ball 88-run partnership for the fifth wicket ended when Clarke dismissed him with a short ball that cramped him for room, and Reddy couldn’t keep the pull down, giving mid-wicket a simple catch. Ravindra Jadeja’s attempt to counter Lennox backfired as his lofted shot failed to clear deep midwicket.
But Kohli responded with a burst of boundaries, striking three fours and a wristy six over backward square leg in the space of 11 balls. From the other end, Rana provided valuable support with assured strokeplay, with his inside-out drive through the covers off Foulkes being the standout.
Much to the delight of the crowd, Kohli reached his century in 91 deliveries and kept India’s hopes alive. Jamieson endured a rare hammering when Kohli struck him for two sixes – one straight down the ground off a full toss and another over midwicket. Rana added to the fireworks with a towering hit over long-on off Foulkes to reach his maiden ODI fifty in just 41 balls.
But Rana’s innings ended soon when he holed out to long-on off a high full toss from Foulkes, who removed Mohammed Siraj on the very next ball, leaving India needing 61 runs from 37 deliveries. The crowd’s hopes rested on Kohli, who responded with back-to-back boundaries in the 46th over to keep the chase alive.
But two balls later, he miscued a lofted stroke to long-off for 124. Though he got a standing ovation from the crowd, it was destined to be an effort in vain. India’s resistance ended swiftly as Kuldeep Yadav was run out while taking a risky single, handing New Zealand a historic series triumph and adding another feather in their cap after achieving a remarkable 3-0 Test sweep just over a year earlier.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 337/8 in 50 overs (Daryl Mitchell 137, Glenn Phillips 106; Arshdeep Singh 3-63, Harshit Rana 3-84) beat India 296 in 46 overs (Virat Kohli 124, Nitish Kumar Reddy 53, Harshit Rana 52; Kristian Clarke 3-54, Zakary Foulkes 3-77) by 41 runs
(IANS)
