Wellington: Gurnoor Brar once again scared the daylights out of a seasoned New Zealand batting unit with raw pace and disconcerting bounce as India’s inexperienced attack sent the hosts packing for a meagre 134 in the second ODI here on Saturday.
Auqib Nabi (2/31 in 7 overs) got the ball to seam in his first spell, while Anshul Kamboj (2/25 in 8 overs) once again bowled a probing line before the most exciting of them all, the towering Brar (4/30 in 10 overs) used the short ball tactic to perfection, cutting through the Black Caps middle-order with surgical precision.
Arshdeep Singh (0/16 in 7 overs) also bowled accurate lines and remained parsimonious through his opening spell and in the middle overs.
In all, Indian bowlers sent down as many as 176 dot balls.
This was after Shubman Gill once again called correctly at the toss and opted to make full use of the overcast conditions and underlying moisture after a steady downpour reduced the game to 47 overs a side.
It was Nabi who drew first blood when Tim Seifert (0) found a delivery holding a bit as he tried to check his uppish drive. Kamboj dived in front at mid-wicket to present Nabi with his first international wicket.
Will Young (6 off 17 balls) struggled as he played and missed a lot of deliveries, only to be dismissed soon after.
It was a beautiful delivery on the off-stump channel that looked like moving in through the air before moving a shade after pitching, inducing the edge from Young.
Henry Nicholls (11 off 26 balls) also scratched around for half an hour before Kamboj ended his misery in the ninth over of the innings.
The Haryana pacer moved slightly wide off the crease and fired one in, cramping the southpaw for room. The ball hurried onto him quicker than he expected and he played on.
New Zealand were reduced to 29 for three in the opening powerplay. Post powerplay, it was Brar’s turn to bounce the batters out as he enjoyed a double wicket maiden over getting both Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips with perfectly executed short-pitched deliveries.
In case of Latham, it was a wide bouncer which batter had to reach, while in case of Phillips, it was aimed at him. Both offered easy skiers to have New Zealand looking down the barrel at 53 for five.
Daryl Mitchell (55 off 104 balls), who was dropped by skipper Gill had skipper Mitchell Santner (31 off 38 balls) for company in a 59-run stand that was never going to be enough for a resurrection.
Mitchell, who had to curb his natural stroke-making instincts while hitting those occasional sixes, was holed out when Axar Patel (2/28 in 9 overs) got him to mistime a lofted drive.
Santner, who looked uncomfortable against Brar, tried to shuffle towards leg to make room, expecting another short ball at his body. Brar, cleverly pitched it up and the thick edge became a regulation catch for Rahul behind the stumps.
