Published: Oct 20, 2016, 09:45 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 20, 2016, 10:45 PM (IST)
In the second One-Day International (ODI) between India and New Zealand at Ferozshah Kotla, New Zealand beat India by 6 runs to level the five-ODI series 1-1. Winning the toss, MS Dhoni again elected to bowl first. India were off to a flying start as Umesh Yadav removed Martin Guptill off the second ball of the game but the match had lots of ups and downs after that. It was an intense match where momentum kept on shifting from one team’s hand to another but in the end, New Zealand prevailed as winners. The series is now leveled at 1-1 with three more games to go. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI at Delhi
Kane Williamson‘s gritty eighth century single handedly took New Zealand to 242 for 9 in their quota of 50 overs. Martin Guptill’s poor form continued as he saw his off stump get rattled by Umesh Yadav in the very first over. Williamson looked unaffected by the early setback who came in at No. 3 and was looking set from the very beginning. He and Tom Latham took very little time to settle in and started to get boundaries at regular intervals. Williamson broke the shackles in the 13th over of the innings when he hit Akshar Patel for a couple of boundaries and a maximum to collect 16 runs from that over and made his intentions clear. Williamson got to his fifty off just 56 deliveries and Latham was happy to play the supporting role. Full Cricket Updates, India Vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI 2016
India were put to some pressure first time in the series as they were made to work hard to get a breakthrough. Latham and Williamson brought up their 100-run stand for the second wicket off just 104 deliveries. The duo looked comfortable in the middle to get a big score. However, just like in the first ODI, Dhoni introduced part-timer Kedar Jadhav into the attack and it paid off immediately. Jadhav trapped Latham in front to pick up his first wicket off the third delivery. Ross Taylor again looked uncomfortable in the middle and so did Corey Anderson as they came in and played slow for their 21. Anderson’s wicket brought in dangerous man Luke Ronchi to the crease.
However, Amit Mishra added yet another wicket after dismissing Williamson and Taylor, to get rid of Ronchi as well. After that, it was all Indian bowlers who added pressure on New Zealand’s lower-order. If it was Yadav who started New Zealand’s downfall, Mishra, Akshar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah’s regular intervals dented the Kiwis’ run-flow. No one stood their ground apart from Williamson as it was left to Mitchell Santner, Anton Devcich and Tim Southee to take New Zealand to a good score from there. Indian bowlers and fielders were in no mood to give away easy runs as New Zealand managed to reach 242 for 9 by the end of 50 overs.
Chasing a modest target of 243, India were expected to win easy but that wasn’t the case. India started the chase in a slow fashion with only 35 runs coming off the first ten overs. Rohit Sharma was not looking at his very best though he struck a beautiful straight six but was not given much room after that. He departed for 15 while Virat Kohli could not do much and left for 9. That made the difference in the chase but India did not give up soon.
Manish Pandey and Ajinkya Rahane added a brief partnership in the middle but Rahane got out against the run of play. Rahane struck a pull shot off Southee’s ball but Anderson held onto a good low catch in deep fine-leg. The decision went upstairs for review but finally went in New Zealand’s favour. Dhoni came in the middle but lost Pandey soon who went for a needless double and show him well short of the crease.
Jadhav came in at No. 6 and looked in complete control. He was given the license by Dhoni who was at ease playing the anchor role while Jadhav played the sweep shots against spin and resisted playing any aerial shots. Jadhav was all set for a big score but got out for 41. This brought Akshar in the middle as Dhoni had to change gears and play from hereon. Dhoni was all set to take the game till the last over but got out to a stunning low catch off Southee to give New Zealand the upper hand.
India lost wickets in clusters as New Zealand were all set to grab their first match of the tour. Nonetheless, the competition and fight was not over yet as Pandya and Yadav held their ends, ran quickly, played some fluent shots and were not ready to give it up easily. The equation suddenly changed and went down to 18 off 15 balls. Both the players have to be credited for their tremendous fightback as their attitude showed that they did not give up and wanted to take the game till the last over.
The twist in this intense encounter did not die down yet as Pandya perished for a fighting 36 in the 49th over to leave India 11 short of the target and one wicket left. India required 10 off 6 balls with one wicket in hand. Yadav took three runs off the first two balls but it was Bumrah facing Southee on the third ball of the last over. Southee produced a Bumrah-special to dismiss him off the first ball to win a thriller which was suddenly getting out of hand. In this way, Dhoni lost his first ODI in Ferozshah Kotla while Kiwis won their first encounter in India after 13 years.
The series is interestingly poised at 1-1, as India won the first match by six wickets. Kane Williamson won the Man of the Match award for his splendid 118 off 128 balls after which his bowlers, especially Trent Boult, stood up to give them their first victory in the tour. With this, the action moves to Mohali for the third ODI.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 242 for 9 in 50 overs (Tom Latham 46, Kane Williamson 118; Jasprit Bumrah 3 for 35, Amit Mishra 3 for 60) beat India 236 in 49.3 overs (MS Dhoni 39, Kedar Jadhav 41, Hardik Pandya 36; Trent Boult 2 for 25, Tim Southee 3 for 52) by 6 runs
(Aditya Sahay is a journalist with CricketCountry who is completely into sports and loves writing about cricket in general. He can be followed on Twitter at adisahay7)
