Indian skipper Shubman Gill had no qualms in saying that the Men In Blue would have to perform much better than they did at Indore on Sunday, where New Zealand defeated them by 41 runs and made the three-day ODI series 1-2 a historic one in their favour. Virat Kohli’s brilliant century wasn’t enough for the home side to chase down 338 and saw New Zealand claim their first ever bilateral ODI series win in India.
With the series at 1-1 going into the final, India had a chance to win another home series. But the New Zealand bat-and-ball showing brought out India’s deficiencies, particularly in the middle overs. Gill, in a post-match admission, said his team failed to live up to the expectations and with T20 World Cup hardly weeks away they need to sit back and reflect.
“After the first match, coming here 1-1, the way we played – a bit disappointed. Lot of areas that need some improvement. There are areas we need to look back, reflect and do better. (On the positives) The way Virat bhai is batting, that’s definitely a plus always. The way Harshit has batted in this series, batting at No. 8, it’s not easy, but the way he stepped up and the way our fast bowlers have bowled in this series has been pretty good. Keeping the World Cup in mind and where it’s going to be,, we want to give him (Nitish Kumar Reddy) opportunities and we want to give him enough overs when he’s out there and just see what kind of combinations work for us and what kind of deliveries work for him as well,” Gill said at the post-match interview.
New Zealand Hold Nerve to Seal Win
Batting first after India decided to field, the BlackCaps recovered from an early collapse in which they lost two wickets in the first two overs. Daryl Mitchell once again proved to be the team’s best batter, hitting 137, with Glenn Phillips contributing 106. The duo put together a crucial 219-run stand for the fourth wicket, powering them to 337/8.
In reply, India’s chase had a rocky beginning and both the openers were dismissed during the power play. Rohit Sharma (to an airborne shot) and Shubman Gill (to Kyle Jamieson’s in-seamer) flickered, then were out. Shreyas Iyer followed him and KL Rahul too didn’t last long.
Virat Kohli had a very fine effort under the circumstances as well, scoring 124 off 108. He was aided first by Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a fifty, and then by Harshit Rana. But Rana and Mohammed Siraj (8) fell to successive balls from New Zealand’s Zak Foulkes, who also took three wickets, while Kristian Clarke claimed two. Kohli’s fall in the 46th over pretty much ended India’s chase as the hosts were bowled out for 296. Mitchell was named Player of the Match and Series respectively for his brilliant performance.
