Wellington: India overcame a disastrous start to earn a hard-fought 35-run win over New Zealand in the fifth ODI here, Sunday to finish the series with a 4-1 scoreline in their favour, proving the heavy loss at Hamilton was an aberration.
The visiting team made three changes in the playing XI. A fit-again Dhoni was back in the team in place of Dinesh Karthik while Mohammad Shami and Shankar replaced Khaleel Ahmed and Kuldeep Yadav. The chinaman bowler was rested from the game.
At 18 for four, India were heading towards another sub-100 total before Ambati Rayudu (90, 113b, 8×4, 4×6) and Vijay Shankar (45, 64b, 4×4) forged a 98-run stand to ensure India ended with a fighting 252.
Hardik Pandya’s 45 (22b, 2×4, 5×6) also went a long way in India posting a challenging target and his two wickets later on showed why he is such an important member of the team.
New Zealand batsmen, including skipper Kane Williamson (39), squandered their starts in the chase but the home team remained in the contest until Jimmy Neesham (44, 32b, 4×4, 2×6) was dismissed in the 37th over, courtesy a fantastic piece of fielding brilliance by MS Dhoni. It came after a leg before appeal was turned down. New Zealand eventually ended with 217 all out in 44.1 overs.
Leggie Yuvzendra Chahal (3/41) was the pick of the Indian bowlers while Pandya (2/50) and Mohammed Shami (2/35) supported him well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav picked up a wicket apiece.
At the toss, skipper Rohit Sharma called the eight-wicket loss in the previous game ‘humiliating’ and embraced the challenge of batting on a testing surface by opting to bat.
With the top four falling cheaply, it looked Rohit’s brave call had backfired but Rayudu and Shankar produced an innings-reviving stand under immense pressure.
Pacer Mark Henry (4/35) was the standout bowler for the Kiwis while Trent Boult (3/39) was also among wickets.
The ball swung at the Westpac Stadium, like it did at Hamilton. Boult, who took five wickets Thursday, and Henry swung the ball at express pace and shared two wickets each to leave India reeling at 18 for four in seven overs.
Just when India looked down in the dumps, Rayudu and Shankar showed admirable fight to weather the storm and lead India’s recovery. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder was sent ahead of Kedar Jadhav at No.6, indicating the team management’s faith in his abilities. It was unfortunate for Shankar to miss out on a well-deserved 50 as he got run out after a mix-up with Rayudu.
Rayudu at the other end began to play his strokes and hammered Colin de Grandhomme for two consecutive boundaries to bring up his 10th ODI fifty. A little later, he smashed Colin Munro for successive sixes before he perished while trying to hit another one out of the park.
Pandya then took the centre stage after Rayudu’s fall and once again showed what he brings to the table late the innings. His brute power was on full display when he whacked leggie Todd Astle for three sixes in as many balls.
Scoreboard
India: Rohit Sharma b Henry 2, Shikhar Dhawan c Henry b Boult 6, Shubman Gill c Santner b Henry 7, Ambati Rayudu c Munro b Henry 90, MS Dhoni b Boult 1, Vijay Shankar r o (Neesham/Munro) 45, Kedar Jadhav b Henry 34, Hardik Pandya c Boult b Neesham 45, Bhuvneshwar Kumar c Ross Taylor b Boult 6, Mohammed Shami r o (Boult) 1, Yuzvendra Chahal n o 0, Extras 15 (b- 5, lb-7, wb-2, nb-1), Total (all out in 49.5 overs) 252.
Fall: 1-8, 2-12, 3-17, 4-18, 5-116, 6-190, 7-203, 8-248, 9-252, 10-252.
Bowling: Matt Henry 10-1-35-4, Trent Boult 9.5-2-39-3, James Neesham 5-0-33-1, Colin de Grandhomme 7-0-33-0, Colin Munro 10-0-47-0, Mitchell Santner 3-0-18-0, Todd Astle 5-0-35-0.
New Zealand: Colin Munro b Shami 24, Henry Nicholls c Jadhav b Shami 8, Kane Williamson c Dhawan b Jadhav 39, Ross Taylor lbw b Pandya 1, Tom Latham lbw b Chahal 37, James Neesham r o (Dhoni) 44, Colin de Grandhomme lbw b Chahal 11, Mitchell Santner c Shami b Pandya 22, Todd Astle lbw b Chahal 10, Matt Henry n o 17, Trent Boult c Shami b Bhuvneshwar 1, Extras (wb-3) 3, Total: (all out in 44.1 Overs) 217.
Fall: 1-18, 2-37, 3-38, 4-105, 5-119, 6-135, 7-176, 8-194, 9-204, 10-217.
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 7.1-0-38-1, Mohammed Shami 8-0-35-2, Hardik Pandya 8-1-50-2, Vijay Shankar 4-0-19-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-41-3, Kedar Jadhav 7-0-34-1.
PTI