Published: Oct 19, 2016, 12:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 18, 2016, 07:53 PM (IST)
India and New Zealand meet in the second One-Day International (ODI) as the action moves to the capital city, New Delhi. With India looking at their very best in the first ODI, after having already whitewashed Kiwis in Tests, the hosts will like to move with same momentum on Thursday. Meanwhile, New Zealand are slowly making this tour a disaster for themselves as they have faced four consecutive defeats now. Change in format has also not done much of a difference to them but they will again try to come hard and level the series before it gets too late. Full Cricket Scorecard, India vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI
It was a picturesque location and a clinical performance by the home side which led India to their 108th win under MS Dhoni in their 900th ODI at Dharamsala. Winning the toss, Dhoni invited the BlackCaps to bat first and their inexperienced bunch of bowlers did a commendable job. Playing his first ODI after a promising start in Twenty20 (T20Is), Hardik Pandya was up for the challenge as he struck in his early overs to remove Martin Guptill while Umesh Yadav dismissed Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor from the other end.
There was no hope for New Zealand who looked erratic, played some reckless shots while some of them fell to a peach-off-a-delivery, especially Taylor. They were battling hard for survival at one stage after reeling at 65 for 7 inside 20 overs. The situation could have been worse had opener Tom Latham not bailed them out with a need-of-the-hour innings. He was the only batsman who applied himself and sent the balls to the ropes with a slight margin of error. Comeback man and senior pro Tim Southee looked in ominous touch as he stitched an important and face-saving partnership with Latham for his side. The duo added 73 runs in no time to put some pressure on the Indian bowlers.
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Southee counter attacked from the start of his innings and had Dhoni thinking for a brief period. Nonetheless, Amit Mishra finally had the last laugh as he mistimed a tossed-up delivery from the leg spinner and gave a simple catch to Manish Pandey after which New Zealand collapsed to 190 in 43.5 overs. Mishra, Pandya and Yadav were India’s wicket-takers while surprise package, Kedhar Jadhav, picked up two scalps and was on a hat-trick in his first over. There was nothing to show from New Zealand’s batting line-up apart from fifties from Latham and Southee.
New Zealand’s batsmen will have to apply themselves at the crease for longer periods to make the series interesting. They were guilty of playing early and displayed lack of concentration. Williamson may not change the line-up a lot but will require more responsibility in the middle from his batsmen. A line-up comprising of Guptill, Taylor, Williamson, Luke Ronchi, Corey Anderson, Jimmy Neesham and Latham can be deadly for any side but they need to step up too. New Zealand bat deep and will be confident of returning to their very best in the upcoming matches but Kotla’s track will be another test for them. The track usually in Kotla assists the batsmen at first but turns and remains slow in the second innings. Williamson, who is burdened with responsibilities, will again be their main batsman on such a track and a big knock may just be round the corner for him.
If New Zealand bat first and get to anywhere close to 250 or more, they can put some pressure and test India’s inexperienced batting line-up. Coming to India’s batting, like many other previous matches, it was again Virat Kohli-show in Dharamsala. Openers, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, started well but perished after starts. Rahane, in particular, needs some big innings under his belt with India scheduled to play only seven matches ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The top-order is set with Shikhar Dhawan (out due to injury) and Rohit, while his usual spot of No. 4 is in a fix with emerging talents like KL Rahul and Manish Pandey. Expect another special knock from local lad Kohli.
Raina, who was supposed to make a comeback into the ODI squad after a year’s gap, will have to wait for some more time as he is yet to recover fully from flu. His place is also under scanner with Jadhav, Pandya, Pandey and Rahul in the scheme of things. The rest of India’s line-up should be the same with three spinners in form of Akshar Patel, Mishra and Raina.
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New Zealand may contemplate bringing in Trent Boult or Matt Henry to the side. Doug Bracewell may sit out for either of them as New Zealand already have three all-rounders in form of Mitchell Santner, Anderson and Neesham. New Zealand can spring a big surprise by playing Anton Devcich, an opener and left-arm orthodox spinner, who is unknown to the Indians. This ploy may fall flat but if it works, it will be a master stroke from the skipper Williamson. He is more of an opener but can bowl too. If he can compliment Santner, New Zealand will feel more confident. He also possesses good technique with the bat and the team can accommodate a place for him.
Ish Sodhi has been expensive and ineffective so they might try someone else in their win-less tour so far. On the other hand, he may be given another rope on a turf which is expected to assist him. Lastly, New Zealand will have to come out with a few surprises and positive intent and revamp this tour before their shoulders start dropping. India are favourites but should not get complacent seeing their opposition’s miseries. Overall, another match with lots to offer is on the cards for spectators and viewers.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (c &wk), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, 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
(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)
