Indore: Virat Kohli’s 108-ball 124 went in vain as New Zealand completed a 2-1 series victory against India with a 41-run win in the third and final ODI here on Sunday.
After conceding 337 for eight to New Zealand, India slumped to 71 for four and could never really recover despite Kohli’s record-extending 54th ODI ton, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 53, and Harshit Rana’s strokeful 52.
India were bowled out for 296 in 46 overs.
For India, Virat Kohli waged a lone battle in the middle with an exceptional 124 off 108 balls, but others just kept falling around him, apart from Nitish Kumar Reddy. For India, it was a new low, as this was their first series loss at home since 2019, when they lost to Australia.
When the Indian chase started with a boundary from Rohit Sharma’s bat, the fans were expecting a high-scoring run chase with less drama. Holkar Stadium is known for big-scoring matches, so everyone expected India to get to the target easily.
But, one thing we have seen in this series from the Indian batters, especially, is the tendency to repeat mistakes. Once the Blackcaps started to be more disciplined with their line and length, Rohit seemingly went into his shell, and his dismissal was brought about in the same manner that he got out in the last two games.
An attempt to break the shackles and the ball just ballooned to Kristian Clarke to have India at 28 for one in four overs. Shubman Gill looked to be in good form throughout the series with two fifties in the last two games, but his issues while facing in-swingers from Kyle Jamieson came back to haunt him once again.
The New Zealand pacer has dismissed the Indian captain four times, with three of them being bowled, and incidentally, in a similar fashion. This time, India were left reeling 45 for two within seven overs. Kohli looked to be determined after his failure in Rajkot, and started things with a beautiful six off Foulkes.
The best thing to see was how cautious he was while trying to run the ball down to the third man area, which was something that was an issue in the past as he has chopped the ball onto the stumps. While this correction was there from him, Shreyas Iyer just got out, just like how he did in the Rajkot ODI. This was also the second time Kristian Clark had got the better of the Indian vice-captain.
When KL Rahul, who has often saved India in the previous games, went for just 3 in the 12th over, it seemed like the hosts were staring at a rare defeat. The issue with these wickets was not just the repetition of the manner in which they got out, but also the lack of corrections being made.
The score was 71 for 4 at that point, when Nitish Kumar Reddy walked out to the middle to join Kohli. The all-rounder was being briefed by Kohli about the situation, and it was a simple one. Replicate what Mitchell and Phillips did in the first innings.
The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and the occasional boundaries, which were few at that point due to New Zealand’s bowling. They were a bowler short as Michael Bracewell was injured and out of the field, meaning that Mitchell had to become the skipper and find a fifth bowler.
This was the moment when Kohli handed the license to Nitish to flex his muscles and he started with a six off Foulkes. He continued to target the bowlers and brought up his maiden fifty and India remained ahead of where New Zealand were at the halfway mark.
But then disaster struck as Nitish tried to pull one out of the stadium and was caught at short mid-wicket and an 88-run stand came to an end. Ravindra Jadeja was out in the middle, but his poor form continued as he tried to take on Jaydon Lennox and holed out in the deep.
At this point, the fans’ excitement had dropped and it was just Kohli keeping people on their seats inside the Holkar stadium. Harshit Rana may have been trolled a lot for many things over the past few months, but one thing he has shown during this series is that he can play a role with the bat.
He made his intentions clear of being a No.7 all-rounder for India in the future, and he showed what he can do. The score was 178 for six and Harshit was once again used like a pawn to protect the king, who was orchestrating the run chase.
Harshit started with a slog shot, but his idea with the bat was to keep Kohli company and back himself to hit some big shots. The run-rate and Harshit’s big-hitting gave Kohli the confidence to kick into overdrive, and he raced into the 90s with a six and a boundary.
While Kohli slowly got to his 54th hundred, Harshit started to keep getting boundaries. The duo targeted Jamieson of all people and ruined his spell with 21 off the 43rd over. Harshit hit four boundaries and four sixes in his impressive maiden fifty and got it with a maximum.
But then, disaster struck as Harshit fell and India lost Mohammed Siraj for a duck.
India needed 61 at that point with Kohli in the middle, but the partners weren’t just there. Kohli had to take everything on himself and got a couple of boundaries in before he ultimately fell. That was the end, and it was poetic that Glenn Phillips got the run out of Kuldeep Yadav to seal the win and kick off the celebrations.
When New Zealand were put into bat after losing the toss, India believed they had the upper hand. Their confidence improved when Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana removed the openers in the first two overs. But the faith put in the batting unit by Michael Bracewell before the series came in clutch once again.
Mitchell and Young steadied the ship for a bit, but India remained in control of things. But when Phillips came in at 58 for three in the 13th over, India just forgot their plans.
It is interesting that India just had no plans on how to counter the Mitchell effect in ODIs. Even with Arshdeep coming in, it still looked a bit one-dimensional against the in-form batter, who just kept milking runs and rendered the Indian spin attack toothless.
Jadeja bowled six overs and conceded 41 runs and Kuldeep went for 48 off six and picked one wicket. Mohammed Siraj led the bowling attack well but the rest of the bowlers and captaincy plans just didn’t work.
While Harshit and Arshdeep picked up three wickets apiece, their economy was above 6, with the former conceding 84. Once the partnership of Phillips and Mitchell ended, India looked deflated and defensive with no energy left.
Bracewell added the finishing touches with a cameo in the end to get to the total, which proved to be enough in the end.
