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India vs New Zealand ODI series: 5 biggest plays of the series

Hardik Pandya had an ODI debut to remember

After beating New Zealand 3-0 in the three-match Test series, MS Dhoni’s men clinched the ODI series 3-2 with a 190-run win over the Kiwis in the final ODI at Vizag last night. It was a complete team performance from the Indians as each and every member of the team contributed to the victory. 

The series saw a lot of brilliant performances from both the teams and there were moments that stood out among the rest. Kane Williamson’s century at New Delhi, the new-ball tussle between Umesh Yadav and Martin Guptill, Indian cricket team’s Nayi Soch campaign, Tom Latham carrying the bat etc. are some of the interesting plays from the series. 

Let us take a look at the top-5 plays from the five-match ODI series.

#1 Hardik Pandya’s dream debut 

2016 has been a memorable year for all-rounder Hardik Pandya as he was called up to the Indian T20I side in January and was an integral part of the team till the end of the World T20. His poor performances in the tournament made the selectors to drop him for the tour of Zimbabwe and West Indies. 

It was when Pandya worked hard on his fitness, gained some muscles and made a bid for a comeback to the national team. He was the star of the quadrangular A series in Australia and his heroics earned him a call to the Indian ODI team for the 5-match series against New Zealand. 

He made his debut in the first ODI at Dharamsala and was troubling Martin Guptill right from the word go. Guptill was lucky enough to get a couple of boundaries through the slip cordon in Pandya’s first over before he square-cut him to the point boundary to make it 3 in Pandya’s first five balls in ODI cricket. Pandya made a brilliant comeback in the last ball when he forced Guptill to edge the ball, and it went straight into the hands of Rohit Sharma at second slip. 

He also accounted for the wickets of Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi and finished with figures of 3-31 in 7 overs, which earned him the Man of the Match award on his ODI debut.

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