Hamilton: A five-wicket haul from Trent Boult guided New Zealand to an easy win against India in the fourth ODI here on Thursday. Chasing a low target of 93, it was a walk in the park for the Kiwis as Ross Taylor (37) and Henry Nicholls (30) crossed the finish line in just 14.4 overs.
The series is now 3-1 in favour of India, who had already clinched it in the third ODI.
A thumping 8-wicket win for New Zealand in the 4th ODI. Series 3-1 with one final ODI left to play #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/quqQzhUDJa
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2019
The fifth ODI will be played on Sunday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the lone wicket-taker for the men in Blue, finishing with a spell of 2/25.
New Zealand 39-2 after 6.2 overs
EDGED AND DISMISSED! Bhuvneshwar sees off captain Kane Williamson for 11 as he is caught behind by Dinesh Karthik.
New Zealand 14-1 after 0.4 overs
WICKET! Bhuvneshwar strikes early as Hardik Pandya takes a simple catch at backward point to dismiss Guptill
India innings
Trent Boult was the star of New Zealand’s bowling attack as he finished with a spell of 5-21 to bundle out India for just 92 runs in the fourth ODI at Seddon Park here on Thursday.
That's that from the India innings. #TeamIndia all out for 92. Trent Boult picks up his 5th five-wkt haul #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/E1496UeggU
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2019
With the series in the bag, the Men In Blue brought in debutant Shubman Gill in place of MS Dhoni, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
While Dhawan (13) continued to struggle, Rohit played a slow innings of seven runs from 23 balls.
Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik were both dismissed for ducks whereas Shubman managed just nine runs.
Colin de Grandhomme too looked impressive with the ball, finishing with a spell of 3-21.
India 80-9 after 29.1 overs
Grandhomme completes the catch at deep backward square to dismiss Kuldeep Yadav.
India 55-8 after 19.4 overs
WICKET! A short-pitched delivery by Trent Boult as he completes his five-for following Hardik Pandya's dismissal, who is caught behind by Latham.
India 40-7 after 16.4 overs
BOWLED 'EM! Grandhomme strikes again to dismiss Bhuvneshwar Kumar, this time he ensures that the bails come off.
India 35-6 after 13.1 overs
WICKET! Boult gets his fourth as Kedar Jadhav is struck lbw.
India 33-5 after 12 overs
WICKET! A forgettable debut for Shubman Gill as he is caught and bowled by Boult. Almost a carbon copy of Rohit's dismissal.
India 33-4 after 10.5 overs
EDGED AND CAUGHT! Dinesh Karthik goes for a duck as Grandhomme gets another wicket, this time with Tom Latham completing a catch behind the wickets.
India 33-3 after 10.2 overs
WICKET! Martin Guptill takes an excellent catch at short cover as de Grandhomme dismisses Ambati Rayudu.
India 23-2 after 8 overs
WICKET! Huge blow for India as Rohit Sharma is caught and bowled by Boult.
India 21-1 after 5.5 overs
WICKET! Shikhar Dhawan is struck lbw by Trent Boult as he departs for an unlucky 13 runs.
Toss update
New Zealand won the toss and have elected to bowl. Shubman Gill makes his ODI debut for India.
Here's our Playing XI for the game. Shubhman Gill makes his debut, Khaleel Ahmed comes in place of Shami#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/8JZ2n7y8O6
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2019
NZ XI: M Guptill, H Nicholls, K Williamson, R Taylor, T Latham, J Neesham, M Santner, C de Grandhomme, T Astle, M Henry, T Boult
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2019
Preview
With the series in the bag, Rohit Sharma-led India will look to continuew their top form in the ODIs when they take on New Zealand in the fourth ODI at Seddon Park here on Thursday.
Rohit captains in Virat Kohli’s absence, who was given a break for the last two ODIs and the forthcoming T20Is.
A 4-0 lead will be India's biggest series win (across formats) in their 52 years of touring New Zealand having first visited the country back in 1967.
For India, the two remaining matches give the side an ideal platform to once again test the bench strength and give the younger men a feel of match situations.
The status of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hamstring injury is not known but according to team sources, there is nothing much to worry about. A decision on Dhoni's availability will be taken before the toss on Thursday.
In case Dhoni is available and the team management avoids tinkering with the combination, he will walk in as Virat Kohli's replacement. Kohli has been rested for the remainder of the tour.
However, if the visitors opt for a like-for-like replacement, then Indian fans could get a glimpse of the immensely talented Shubman Gill in the senior team jersey.
For New Zealand, everything seems to have gone haywire since the start of the series and skipper Kane Williamson has agreed that they have been completely outplayed by India.
Their biggest problem has been the inability to read Kuldeep and Chahal, who have inflicted the maximum damage on the home team. Shami has also been pretty lethal in his first spell.
Williamson has got starts but has not been able to convert them with scores of 64, 20 and 28 so far.
Martin Guptill, an otherwise dangerous player, has also not been able to survive the new ball.
Tom Latham and Ross Taylor have performed occasionally but none has been impactful consistently enough to change the complexion of the game.
In the bowling department, the incisive Trent Boult has lacked support and Lockie Ferguson is far from a finished product. His was considered a USP but has been his biggest weakness in the series.
Seamer Doug Bracewell and leg-spinner Ish Sodhi have also been mediocre, which makes the job of the 'Black Caps' tougher in the last two games.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, and Ross Taylor.
