Moments of madness, the surreal Kedar Jadhav and an unexpected surrender by the visitors went on be the difference between a score in excess of 320 and 285 for New Zealand. With the series tied at 1-1, the same story ensued as New Zealand middle-order disappointed again. Cruising at 153 for 2 in the 29th over over, New Zealand were reduced to 180 for 7 in the 35th over and eventually managed 285 thanks to Jimmy Neesham’s resilient rescue act of 57 off 47 balls, adding 84 for the ninth wicket with Matt Henry from only 67 balls. It was Tom Latham’s 61 off 72 balls that gave their innings the much-needed momentum earlier as he shared a 73-run third wicket stand with Ross Taylor. LIVE Cricket Scorecard, India vs New Zealand, 3rd ODI at Mohali
Neesham, who was dropped for the second One-Day International (ODI) of the series at Delhi, made a comeback at Mohali in place of Anton Devcich. Coming in at 161 for 5 in the 30th over, Neesham and Henry were forced to join hands when New Zealand were at a precarious position of 199 for 8 in the 38th over. The duo batted diligently and were helped with erratic length from Indian bowlers as they continued to keep the scorecard ticking before unleashing themselves in the final overs. India’s perennial weakness of struggling against tail-enders came back to haunt again. LIVE Cricket Updates, India vs New Zealand, 3rd ODI at Mohali
The 49th over from Umesh Yadav cost India 16 runs but that was when Neesham fell after completing his maiden ODI fifty. Henry was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah with two balls remaining in the innings after striking 39 off 37 balls.
Off-spinner Jadhav finished was among wicket once again, claiming 3 for 29 from his 5 overs. Surprisingly, he bowled only five. If Suresh Raina was fit, Jadhav in all probability would not have got an opportunity to play. Raina’s loss became the opportunity for the 31-year-old Maharashtra skipper. Known more for his explosive batting and part-time wicketkeeping, Indian skipper MS Dhoni introduced Jadhav to the attack in the first ODI at Dharamsala. He claimed the wickets of Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner in his first over. Jadhav, who has only a wicket in First-Class cricket accounted for Latham’s wicket at Delhi and continued his honeymoon at Mohali.
Jadhav went on to dismiss New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson and the well-set Latham. Jadhav with his performances in the last three ODIs has exhibited enough mettle to slip into the shoes of a finisher-spinner all-rounder that the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Raina have played in the past.
Sunil Gavaskar went on to describe Jadhav as someone, “who bats for Maharashtra, keeps wickets for his IPL franchise [Royal Challengers Bangalore] and bowls and gets wicket for his national side.”
Williamson’s woes with the toss in this tour continued. New Zealand are yet to win a toss in this tour. Once again, Williamson called it wrong and Dhoni elected to bowl. The decision made sense as India have been good with chases especially with Dhoni and Virat Kohli in the team, probably two best batsmen a side can dream of especially in run chases. Also, with the dew factor a serious concern in north India, the decision made all the more sense.
Unlike the previous two ODIs, New Zealand started on a positive note and for a change, there was an anticipation that the order of the day would change with Martin Guptill blazing guns early on, which has been a rarity in this tour. Guptill had struck two boundaries and two maximums as New Zealand raced to 46 in the seventh over before Guptill fell to his perennial weakness against the ball that swings in late. Once again, his nemesis was Umesh Yadav, the man who troubled Guptill throughout the tour. He gets locked as he tries to go across while fending. This was a problem that hampered Shane Watson’s progress as well and bowlers often exploited that.
Williamson looked at ease the moment he came out to bat, he straight drove Umesh for a boundary and Jasprit Bumrah who dived at mid-on to stop it, injured his right shoulder. With Bumrah being one of the keys for India in the shorter formats, these were worrying signs when he left the field. However, he came back soon and the 10th over of the innings saw a good contest between Williamson and Bumrah. The pacer got extra bounce to beat Williamson’s bat but the Kiwi maestro beautifully drove one through covers for a boundary, only to edge the next ball for a single. It had almost carried to Dhoni and Bumrah could only rue his luck.
Williamson’s stay was short-lived. The 26-year-old, who had employed the sweep to great effect during his century at Delhi fell prey to it when he tried to sweep Jadhav and was early on it and got struck right in front of off-stump.
Ross Taylor getting back to form?
Just like Guptill, it seemed Taylor would end his run drought at Mohali. As it has been the order of the tour, Taylor struggled early on and looked tentative. In the 17th over, Amit Mishra delivered a rank short ball, which the batsman rocked back and slapped it in the mid-wicket region for a boundary. That was the confidence that Taylor needed as he began to bat more fluently. He used the cut well and even when there was minimum of room, he played it with good success. The signs of Taylor getting back to form can be well figured out with the way, he executes the slog sweep. In the last ball of the 28th over, Taylor powerfully swept Akshar Patel for a six.
Tom Latham, again
While Taylor played the supporting hand, Tom Latham played another attractive knock of 61 from 72 balls and at one point, it did seem that he is en route to carry his bat yet again. Latham brought up his sixth ODI fifty and continued to be New Zealand’s saving grace in the batting department.
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sportsmarketer , strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
In this series, the sweep shot has brought up a lot of runs to the 24-year-old southpaw, who carried his bat at Dharamsala, was involved in a crucial partnership with Williamson in Delhi and had scored three fifties in all the three Tests earlier in the tour. Mohali was no different as he stroked away to another crucial fifty.
Mishra managed to break the partnership between Latham and Taylor, when he foxed the latter with a tossed up ball that drifted in. Taylor was beaten and Dhoni made no mistake with the stumping. What followed was a suicidal attempt from the New Zealanders.
Corey Anderson played a full-toss from Jadhav straight to Ajinkya Rahane at mid-off. Luke Ronchi, Latham and Santner departed in succession. Tim Southee, who was cleaned up by Bumrah at Delhi courtesy a brilliant yorker, paid back the favours to the Indian pacer when the latter batted. Bumrah’s wicket handed New Zealand a six-run victory. From thereon, it went on to be a Neesham show and Matt Henry deserves equal credit for the 84-run partnership, which could win New Zealand the game.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 285 in 49.4 overs (Tom Latham 61, Ross Taylor 44, Jimmy Neesham 57, Matt Henry 39; Kedar Jahdav 3 for 29, Umesh Yadav 3 for 75) vs India.
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sportsmarketer , strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
Written by 
