Amit Mishra's 5-wicket-haul helps India win New Zealand ODI series 3-2
Visakhapatnam: India have managed to wrap-up the five-match ODI series against New Zealand, after a five-wicket haul by spinner Amit Mishra helped the hosts register a 190-run victory over the Kiwis, in Visakhapatnam, on Saturday.
Fireworks lit-up the Visakhapatnam night sky, as Axar Patel completely cleaned up Mitchell Santner's stumps, to take the 10th Kiwi wicket on Saturday night.
Thsi 190-run win by India marked the end of the five-ODI series against New Zealand, as India takes the series 3-2. While the hosts will still be trailing the Black Caps in the ICC ODI Rankings, they will be happy about the fact that they won both the Test and ODI series.
Umesh Yadav and Jaspreet Bumrah got the Indians off to a great start in the NZ innings, as they dismissed both the openers.
However, it was Amit Mishra, who completely ran the show, picking up five wickets against a set of clueless New Zealand batsmen.
Axar Patel also gave him good support from the other end, when the two spinners were bowling in tandem. The left-arm spinner picked up two wickets, while Umesh, Bumrah, and debutant Jayant Yadav picked up one each.
Earlier, India played a steady innings, but the hosts never really reached the overdrive mode that they were expected to, after Rahane and Rohit got them off to a steady start.
While Kohli and Dhoni saw through the middle over of the innings, fall of a few quick wickets (especially that of Dhoni and Kohli) prevented
However, the hosts have managed to set up a challenging score for the New Zealand, who need 270 runs to win the five-ODI series 3-2, at 5.4 runs per over.
Scorecard
India win the match by 190 runs, to wrap up a 3-2 series victory.
NZ: 79 all out from 23.1 overs
WICKET! And that the end of that! Axar picks up the last wicket (Santner), as India register a massive 190-run victory. The hosts clinch the series 3-2 with the help of this win.
NZ: 76/9 from 21.4 overs
WICKET! Sodhi goes for the big sweep against Mishra, but the leg-spinner catches the top edge of the bat, as the ball loops high into the Vizag night. Rahane did well to take a difficult-looking catch.
NZ: 74/8 from 19.4 overs
WICKET! Mishra picks up his 4th wicket!. Southee completely misses the line of the ball, as Dhoni whips off the bails after collecting the ball. Third umpire rules it out, after replays show that Southee's foot was way outside the crease.
NZ: 74/7 from 19.1 overs
WICKET! Amit Mishra is on a roll. Seven wickets down for NZ. Neesham is beaten all ends up, as Mishra's ball goes on to hit the stumps.
NZ: 74/6 from 19 overs
WICKET! Jayant Yadav picks up his first ODI wicket in his first over in international cricket. His ball catches Corey Anderson plumb (LBW) in front of the stumps.
NZ: 66/5 from 16 overs
WICKET! Mishra is weaving his magic all over the Vizag pitch. beats Watling all ends up with the 'wrong-one'.
NZ: 63/4 from 15.4 overs
WICKET! Taylor's horrible tour in India comes to an end, as he edges an Amit Mishra delivery into Dhoni's gloves.
NZ: 63/3 from 14.4 overs
WICKET! The spinner get in on the action. Williamson dances down the track to make room and play a lofted inside-out shot. However, his shot was straight at Jadhav, who took a good running catch in the deep.
NZ: 45/2 from 10 overs
India have pegged NZ back after the fall of the first two wickets. The slow nature of the pitch is impeding with the visitors' scoring rate at the moment.
NZ: 28/2 from 6 overs
WICKET! The slower pitch is doing the trick for India. Latham goes into his shot too early, as Bumrah's good length delivery catches the edge of the bat and loops up into the Vizag night sky. Easy catch by debutant Jayant Yadav.
NZ: 27/1 from 5 overs
India have got the early breakthrough, but Latham and Williamson have kept a steady scoring rate in the first five overs of the innings.
NZ: 3/1 from 1 over
WICKET! Umesh strikes early on! Beats Guptill all ends up, as the ball hits his back leg on the knee-roll, and goes on to hit the stumps.
India: 269/5 from 50 overs
Jadhav has finally gotten into the act, hitting a six off Boult. He turns the last ball of the innings away for two runs, as India end the innings at 269 for the loss of five wickets.
India: 266/5 from 49.4 overs
WICKET! Boult bowls Axar all ends up with a yorker. The ball catches the inside edge of his back and deflects onto the stumps. Great bowling by the Boult.
India: 259/5 from 49 overs
the slow nature of the pitch has helped the cause of the NZ bowlers. Axar PAtel and Kedar Jadhav are finding it difficult to hit the big shots.
India: 241/5 from 47 overs
Great bit of death-overs bowling by Southee. There seems to be no pace in the pitch, and the NZ bowler mixed it up well, with slower deliveries clockin as little as 82kmph.
India: 231/5 from 45 overs
India are inching towards a decent total. However, both the batsmen who are out on the crease are yet to be fully set. Axar Patel and Kedar Jadhav have only five overs to put up a decent total for India.
India: 220/5 from 43.1 overs
Williamson's gamble with Sodhi works perfectly. Kohli dances down the track and makes room for himself, to hit an uppish inside-out drive off the leggie. The ball goes straight down Martin Guptill's throat, in deep cover.
India: 200/4 from 40.1 overs
Kohli brings up India's 200-run mark with a quick single. The hosts need to setp-up on their scoring rate, in order to put up a decent total. It will be interesting to see whether Kohli changes gears, with 10 overs to go.
India: 196/4 from 39 overs
WICKET! Panish Pandey throws away his wicket, trying to slog Sodhi on the leg side. Easy catch for Boult in the deep.
India: 190/3 from 37.3 overs
WICKET! Dhoni was also nearing-in on his half century, but Santner manages to trap the India skipper LBW, right after Kohli completed his 38th ODI half-century.
India: 190/2 from 37.2 overs
Virat Kohli brings up the 38th 50 of his career with a smart single off Santner.
India: 183/2 from 35 overs
The two batsmen are taking it a bit easy now, after a spell of hard-hitting shots. Kohli is nearing the 50-run mark yet again.
India: 178/2 from 34 overs
DROPPED! Difficult chance for Corey Anderson, as Dhoni lobs a defensive shot back in his dierction. However, the NZ medium pacer was already on his follow through after the ball, and fail to catch it.
India: 172/2 from 33 overs
The Kohli-Dhoni duo have brought up their 50-run partnership. While Dhoni took his time to get set, the India skipper has now gotten into the act, going after any loose delivery by the NZ bowlers.
India: 158/2 from 31 overs
Exquisite shot by Kohli. Dances down the track and hits it straight back over Sodhi's head for a six. A textbook shot by the India vice-captain.
Dhoni also gets into the act. Hits it flat over Sodhi's head, as the ball takes one bounce before denting the advertisement hoardings.
India: 132/2 from 26 overs
Williamson has used Sodhi cleverly, today. The Indian batsmen have been going after the leggie, but the NZ skipper is giving him a few quick overs, while Dhoni is still new to the crease.
The duo of Kohli and Dhoni are taking it easy for the moment, scoring at a steady rate.
India: 119/2 from 22 overs
WICKET! Boult gets his first wicket, dismissing the dangerous Rohit Sharma, who played a lofted pull on the leg side straight down the throat of Jimmy Neesham in the deep.
It was clear after his injury that Rohit will not sticke around to take the quick singles. Unable to run quickly, Rohit was going for the big shots, which eventually did him in.
India: 115/1 from 20.5 overs
DROPPED! Looking for a wild slog, Kohli mistimes Neesham's slower ball, and sends a lobbed catch straight towards Ross Taylor. However, the Kiwi fielder drops the simple catch.
The last time Kohli was dropped by Taylor, the former went on to score 154 not out, in Mohali.
India: 110/1 from 20 overs
India are ticking the scoreboard over at a steady pace. Rohit and Kohli take six singles off Boult's over.
India: 89/1 from 18 overs
That break did nothing to deter Rohit, as he brings up his 50 with a brilliant cut through point, and into the boundary.
The crowd bursts into cheers, as Rohit gets back up on his feet, after receiving some treatment.
India: 85/1 from 17 overs
India's run rate has just touched the 5 runs per over mark, but Rohit Sharma, the man who has been doing the bulk of the scoring so far, has started limping, as the hosts' medical staff comes out.
India: 71/1 from 15 overs
DRINKS! India have taken a cautious approach to the game today. Althoug Rohit is going after the bad deliveries, the approach has largely been cautious from the Indian batters.
India: 59/1 from 13 overs
DROPPED! Kohli punches the bakk back towards Santner, but the ball drops a little ahead of the left-arm spinner.
India: 55/1 from 12 overs
Tremendous shot by Rohit to bring up the 50-run mark for India. Hits a short-arm jab off the back foot off Neesham's delivery, to hit it over the tom on long-off, for a six.
India: 47/1 from 11 overs
Williamson brings in spinner Mitchell Santner into the attack. The pitch immediately shows some turn. Santner beats Rohit all ends up, as his turning ball goes on to hit the India opener on the back leg. The umpire gave not out, but replays suggest that the ball pitched in line with the leg stump and turned inside. Would have gone on to hit the stumps.
India: 40/1 from 9.2 overs
WICKET! The bowling change by Williamson has worked. Neesham takes a wicket with his second ball of the day, as Rahane flicks a slower ball straight into the hands of Tom Latham at short midwicket.
The New Zealand bowlers are trying to vary the pace and length of their deliveries, in an attempt to keep the Indian batsmen on their toes. This strategy has worked so far, with the hosts scoring at a modest pace.
India: 35/0 from 8 overs
There seems to be some good pace and bounce on the wicket, as Boult strikes Rahane's gloves with a shorter delivery. The India opener comes back well, however, smashing the following slower delivery over the in-fielders for a boundary through the covers.
India: 17/0 from 5 overs
Both the batsmen have taken a steady approach to the game. While the Indians have punished the few bad deliveries, the NZ bowlers have mostly kept thing tight in the first five overs.
India: 14/0 from 4 overs
Some great bowling by Boult. Gives away just 1 run in his second over.
India: 13/0 from 3 overs
Rahane seems to have come back into form after hitting 57 off 70 balls in the Ranchi match. Hits another exquisite drive on the off side, this time, on the front foot, off Trent Boult's bowling.
Rohit also gets in on the act, dancing down the tracks to Southee, and hitting it back over the bowler's head, for a boundary through mid-off.
Southee came back with a wicked in-swinger that went on to hit Rohit on the pads. The impact however, was in line with the leg stumps, suggesting that the ball would have gone on to miss the wicket. Not out.
India: 5/0 from 1 over
Cracking shot by Rahane on the off side, for the first boundary for India, in only the second ball of the innings. Lovely punch off the back foot.
Ends the over with a smart single on the leg side. Rahane keeps the strike.
Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane to open the batting for India. Tim Southee for NZ. Rahane on strike.
And the players are out on the pitch, in the deciding match at Vizag. Here are the two starting XIs.
India XI: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni(w/c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand XI: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, James Neesham, BJ Watling(w), Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi
Vizag: In the series-decider, India have won the toss and elected to bat against the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand side.
India, who lost the last game in MS Dhoni's hometown in Ranchi, have made two changes to their playing XI. Jasprit Bumrah has taken his place in the team replacing Dhawal Kulkarni while Jayant Yadav will be making his debut.
Kiwis, meanwhile, have brought in all-rounder Corey Anderson in place Anton Devcich.
With the series tied at 2-2, India and New Zealand are set for a thrilling encounter in the series-deciding fifth ODI at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Vizag on Saturday.
While the Indian side are hoping to tame the Kiwis, the Kane Williamson-led unit is in with a chance to seal their first eve ODI series win on the Indian soil.
Although Indian batsmen have had a tough time in the series, MS Dhoni can take a relief in the fact that his bowlers have stood up and delivered every time. However, for India to win the final ODI ahead of the five-match Test series against England, the batting line-up must come to the party and not remain heavily dependent on the star batsman Virat Kohli.
For New Zealand, while the likes of Tom Latham and Kane Williamson have been saviours, the pacer bowlers have been the unsung heroes. The trio of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry have done a fine job.
While it won’t be a be all and end all series for either of the sides or their captains, they will be itching to grab the bragging rights.
