New Zealand defeated India by five wickets in the third and final ODI at the of the three-match series here at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday (February 11).
With this victory, the Blackcaps also registered a 3-0 whitewash over the Men In Blue in the three-match ODI series. This is also India’s first series loss in any format since March last year.
In chase of target score of 297 runs, Openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls gave the home side the perfect start and formed a 106-run stand for the first wicket.
Yuzvendra Chahal finally found the much-needed breakthrough for India in the 17th over and dismissed Guptill on 66.
Skipper Kane Williamson came in next formed a 53-run stand with before Chahal again came up with the required goods and sent Williamson (22) back to the dressing room in the 28th over, reducing New Zealand to 159/2.
Ross Taylor, the man in form, failed to deliver with the bat on the day as he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja in the 32nd over for just 12 runs.
Soon after, Indian pacer Shardul Thakur removed Nicholls (80) with a claver delivery, reducing Kiwis to 189/4.
Jimmy Neesham and Tom Latham then formed a short 31-run stand for the fifth wicket, but Chahal again found the breakthrough for his side and dismissed Neesham (19) in the 40th over.
However, it was Colin de Grandhomme (58) and Latham (32) who guided the Blackcaps to victory in the end by five wickets with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, KL Rahul’s knock 112 runs boosted India to 296/7 in the allotted fifty overs.
Batting first, the Men In Blue got off to yet another poor start as they lost two early wickets in Mayank Agarwal (1) and Virat Kohli (9) with just 32 runs on the board.
Opener Prithvi Shaw played some flamboyant shots before he also perished via a run-out in the 13th over for 40, leaving India in a spot of bother at 62/3.
Shreyas Iyer and Rahul then knitted together a 100-run stand for the fourth wicket.
However, Kiwi pacer Neesham provided his side with the breakthrough that they were looking for in the 31st over and sent Iyer (62) back to the pavilion.
Manish Pandey then came in and played some aggressive shots with Rahul, who brought up his fourth ton in the 45th over of the innings.
Rahul (112) and Pandey (42) were soon dismissed in the 47th over, leaving India at 269/6
The New Zealand bowlers were in top form again as they managed to restrict India below the 300-run mark.
India skipper Virat Kohli blamed the team’s lack of composure while bowling and fielding as they lost the ODI series 0-3 to New Zealand after being defeated in the third and final match by five wickets.
“The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us,but the way we bowled and fielded,the composure wasn’t enough for us to win the games.We didn’t deserve to be on the winning side at all in this series.” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony. ” We haven’t played so badly, but we didn’t grab the opportunities. It was a good experience for the new guys who came in. They are still finding their feet,” he added talking about the opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal who played in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who are out injured.
He also said India is now looking forward to the two match test series starting February 21 in Wellington.
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