Against a brittle New Zealand team which has never produced a unified batting performance on this tour, India will face some embarrassment if the fifth and final One-Day International (ODI) ends without a favourable result, which may also be due to the Cyclone Kyant. In this big ‘India cricket’ season, the hosts are expected to win almost everything, but their two ordinary shows with the bat have put the series up for grabs for the misfiring Kiwis, who have pulled off two narrow wins to make this final ODI a series decider. For India, it will be important to bring out their A game for one last time against New Zealand before they break for some much-needed time off ahead of the five-Test series against England. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand, 5th ODI at Visakhapatnam
As far as New Zealand are concerned, they would know Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni remain the biggest threat to their chances of winning this ODI series and making a strong statement. When a dispirited New Zealand cricket team began the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series suffering a massive defeat to India at Dharamsala, it looked like the Kiwis were up for further humiliation. New Zealand appeared as clueless with the bat as they did in the Test series while their bowling remained toothless.
However, with some ordinary show by Indians with the bat in the following matches — in the second ODI at New Delhi and in the fourth game at Ranchi — the Kiwis managed to trump the high-flying hosts. The series now moves to its final round, at Visakhapatnam for the final ODI, where India and New Zealand have all to play for.
Having suffered an embarrassing defeat by 19 runs in the fourth ODI at MS Dhoni’s hometown Ranchi, the Indian cricket team will be wary of the threats the New Zealand cricket team has posed so far. The series is currently levelled at 2-2 with the two teams producing impressive cricket, and with both India and New Zealand having a fair chance each to win the series, it will be difficult to pick a favourite at Visakhapatnam.
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Whenever Kohli and Dhoni fail with the bat, Indians stumble to defeats even in simplest of chases. In the fourth ODI, Kohli scored 45 and Dhoni managed a few, but despite the target never haunting the Indians, asking them to score at a brisk rate, they lost by 19 runs. New Zealand will know that their chances of winning this ODI series depends on how soon they dismiss these two batsmen, especially Kohli, who has had scores of 85*, 9, 154* and 45 in the four matches so far.
New Zealand have been ordinary with the bat. Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill and even Ross Taylor (with his 44 in the fourth match) have chipped in, but New Zealand have never clicked together as a batting unit so far in this tour. In case they bat first, New Zealand will know if they want to really pressurise the Indians they will need at least 300 runs on board.
But then, New Zealand have done more than enough with the ball to stun India with ordinary scores on the board. In the second ODI, India fumbled chasing 243, and in the fourth, they threw away the game having limited the Kiwis to 260 for 7 in their allotted 50 overs. The pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult has worked very well for the Kiwis, and one wonders what difference these two would have made had the former been available for the Test series. Southee is New Zealand’s best bowler in these conditions, and with his variations he is truly dangerous.
For India, it will be important to have Jasprit Bumrah back in the team after the right-arm bowler missed out on the fourth ODI due to illness. He will be needed to clip New Zealand’s wings right from the beginning as the Kiwis have been able to push for challenging scores only on the back of strong partnerships up in the order. It was only in the third ODI when Jimmy Neesham and Matt Henry chipped in a strong 84-run stand for the ninth wicket which revived them from an embarrassing position of 199 for 8.
The Indian tail has also punched above its weight in a few games, taking them closer to wins in the games that they lost. However, none of it shadows the failures of their new players in Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya and even Akshar Patel who are expected to contribute heavily. For more than one reason, the over-dependency on Kohli must be addressed before it becomes an epidemic, and the signs so far have not been good for the Indians.
The final ODI could be the last opportunity for the pair of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, who have averaged a poor 24.66 in 6 ODIs so far, garnering mere 148 runs. Rahane has had a face-saving half-century in the previous ODI, but Rohit’s scores of 14, 15, 13 and 11 in the last four games has certainly worried the Indians going further into their big season.
For New Zealand, it will be important to click together as a batting unit and challenge the Indians with a lot of runs on the board. This clash being a series decider, Kohli, the big match player will be eager to end the series on a high. Keeping their struggles in mind, in hindsight, New Zealand have not done that bad in the ODIs after being railroaded in the Test series. The team under the inspiring leadership of Williamson would want to end the tour on a high, more so when they are just one win away from their first-ever ODI series win in India.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Akshar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling (wk).
Time: 13:30 local | 08:00 GMT
(Devarchit Varma is a senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)