After facing a demoralizing loss in the Hamilton ODI by 8 wickets, Team India was raring to make a comeback in the final ODI against New Zealand. However, the similar situation occurred in Wellington as well, as the Indian team was reduced to 18/4 after the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma decided to bat first. However, Team India finished the innings with the score of 252 and a lot of credit for the same goes to the ferocious batting display of Hardik Pandya and a strong partnership between Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar.
India made three changes in the squad as Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, and Khaleel Ahmed made way for MS Dhoni, Vijay Shankar, and Mohammed Shami. Rayudu (90) and Shankar (45) amassed 98 runs for the 5th wicket and it gave sufficient room for a comeback to the Indian team. However, Pandya added the finishing touch by smashing 45 runs in just 22 balls with the help of 5 sixes and 2 fours.
Rayudu received the man-of-the-match award for his performance. While Shami was adjudged as man-of-the-series for taking 9 wickets as India won the game by 35 runs and sealed the series 4-1. Indi’s score was defended by some quality bowling effort from legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal (three for 41) and Shami (two for 35) as the hosts were skittled for 217 in 44.1 overs.
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Talking about the loss during the post-match presentation, Kane Williamson said, “First of all a different surface. They got to a par total, maybe a few more. We knew it would be tricky, but we did not take it further. We just lost wickets at the wrong time. They did it very well. Rayudu played well with 90 and did not score for a long time. Then they put the pressure back on us – it’s a lesson for us. Their accuracy was great.”
Tom Latham and Williamson steadied the ship for the Kiwis in the middle up to some extent but it wasn’t enough to save the game.
Describing the same, Williamson added, “Tommy Latham and me could have taken it further. Credit to India, they showed us a lesson and they deserve the series win. I suppose as batsmen we need to soak that pressure up and take those decisions. Throughout the series, they got us under more pressure. We were able to revert the pressure but not long enough and often enough.”
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India had a terrible outing in the previous match at Seddon Park in Hamilton when Trent Boult’s fiery spell shot down the tourists for 92.
Talking about the same, Rohit said, “After the Hamilton loss, the way we lost was big. We need to get together as a team. After we lost four wickets, all we needed was somebody to show application. The partnership between Rayudu and Vijay Shankar turned the game for us. The wicket got flat at the end, but at one point it looked an easy chase, but the bowling unit came together. A lot of people put their hands up and got us through. If the series was alive, we would have chased. We wanted to test ourselves today. The partnership from Rayudu and Shankar was crucial. When you want to win games, you need a right balance, especially when Bumrah is not here. Coming here and beating NZ at home is never easy and they are a good traveling team as well. 4-1 is a great achievement.”
