New Zealand vs India 2014: 4th ODI - New Zealand seal series after emphatic victory

Ross Taylor of New Zealand bats during game four of the men’s one day international series between New Zealand and India at Seddon Park on January 28, 2014 in Hamilton, New Zealand.

India and New Zealand went into the 4th ODI of the series with contrasting needs to satisfy their endeavours after 3 close games saw the home side win the first 2 matches and tie the 3rd one.

Albeit India salvaged a tie result in the 3rd ODI, MS Dhoni’s men were expected to feel the pinch of needing to get on board in the series. New Zealand on the other hand have had things going their way more often than not, and even though they didn’t manage to close out the series in the 3rd ODI, they weren’t quite under the pump so to speak. So then, how did the 4th ODI of the series pan out?

Pitch conditions and toss

Coming back to the Seddon Park in Hamilton for the 2nd time in this series, the pitch was always going to be an intriguing talking point before the game. And, just as anticipated, the surface looked lighter in color, devoid of grass, but the top surface was a lot firmer, which meant that the bounce could be a bit awkward for the Indian batsmen to manage. And for a better part of the Indian innings, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and to an extent Dhoni too found it difficult to get going.

There was a period when Dhoni lost more tosses than he managed to win them, but more importantly, Team India ended up being victorious on those occasions. But during the tours of South Africa and New Zealand so far, MS Dhoni won the toss on all 3 occasions prior to today, but his decision to field first sparked off a bit of a debate, especially in the 3rd ODI – a must win game for India.

This time though, Dhoni chose the safer and wiser option of batting first, asking his batsmen to put the runs on the board and then bring his spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja into play on a sluggish and turning pitch.

Team news

Team India chose to rest their first team regulars in Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan, and bring in Ambati Rayudu and hand Stuart Binny his ODI debut.

The Indian XI: MS Dhoni(c & wk), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Varun Aaron.

The Blackcaps for some reason left out their man of the series so far, Corey Anderson, and instead brought in James Neesham, who’s said to have a similar repertoire to Anderson’s.

The New Zealand XI: Brendon McCullum(c), Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi(wk), Nathan McCullum, James Neesham, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee and Hamish Bennett.

The Indian innings

With Shikhar Dhawan rested or axed, there was always going to be this conundrum of who’s going to open with Rohit Sharma. Ajinkya Rahane was probably the one, who should have been told to go ahead and open the innings for the team, but by Dhoni’s logic, the batting order needed to follow it’s own course. So, in case an opening slot is vacant, the batsmen at no.3 should be the one, who needs to accept that responsibility, much like what Rahul Dravid did during his years as a no.3 batsman for India.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opened for India, but the New Zealand opening bowlers in Tim Southee and Kyle Mills started off really well. They hit the right lengths, and the pitch was playing its own bag of tricks. Virat Kohli, who just couldn’t get going on this surface and in this position perished to a rising ball from Tim Southee for 3. That wasn’t an enviable start for the Indian side, which would have wanted to get off to a good start.

Ajinkya Rahane joined Rohit Sharma in the middle, and rebuilding the innings had to be the mantra for this duo. Rohit Sharma couldn’t find his flowing touch on this surface, and was living dangerously. Ajinkya Rahane at the other end couldn’t get going either, and the Indian innings struggled to gain any kind of a momentum. But, the Kiwi new ball bowlers struck to their task, and did get their rightful rewards.

Ajinkya Rahane was India’s second victim to the short-pitch delivery on the day, and the decision to bat first didn’t quite go to plan. India soon slipped to 22-2 in the 9th over of the innings.

Ambati Rayudu finally got his due in the side, and like he has done for the Mumbai Indians over the years, he began his innings with caution. Rohit Sharma was slowly finding his touch and smacked a couple of 6s, one each of Mills and Bennett.

In spite of the slow start, Rayudu and Rohit had the leeway to play themselves in, and they slowly stabilized the Indian innings as it approached the 25-over mark. From 22-2 after 9 overs, you’d have to say that reaching 100-2 at the halfway mark was a good job done by Rayudu and Rohit.

But as has been the case with Team India right throughout this tour, they have found ways of throwing away their wickets just as they were looking good. This time was no different.

Rayudu, just as he was looking good, played a pull shot to another length ball from Bennett, which climbed up to his throat area and caught the top edge off his blade. India were reduced to 101-3, and the mantle of rescuing the Indian innings fell to MS Dhoni, who still had Rohit Sharma for company.

Rohit Sharma after reaching his half-century looked to play some big shots down the ground, and did pull it off on a couple of occasions. Twice in the space of 3 overs, Rohit swayed away from the line of the ball, and played the inside-out shot over extra covers, once for a four and another time for a six.

In the meanwhile though, Dhoni was circumspect and waited for the batting powerplay to arrive. But, it was never going to be as easy as it sounds. Rohit Sharma, who was playing so well, was dismissed in a strange manner for a batsman batting on 79.

A wide delivery down the leg-side had Rohit looking to help it on it’s way, but thanks to a good piece of footwork from the wicket keeper, the faint edge off Rohit’s bat was taken on the second attempt by Ronchi, and India was pushed to 142-4.

One of the two heroes from the last game, Ashwin joined Dhoni in the middle, and it was going to be interesting to see Ashwin’s tactics from the outset. The first ball he faced was caressed through the covers in typical Ashwin’s style, and all the New Zealand fielders were in awe of the dexterity that Ashwin produced through that shot. But in the very next over, two factors contributed to Ashwin’s cheap dismissal.

One was the brilliant touch he was in, and the other one was the awkward size of the ground in Hamilton. A wide – ‘asking to be hit’ ball outside his off-stump was connected beautifully by Ashwin, only to be caught by the fielder running in 5 yards from his position at third-man.

The departure of one spinning all-rounder saw another one’s arrival in the form of Ravindra Jadeja. Ravindra Jadeja joined Dhoni in the middle and during the initial phase of their partnership, it was Jadeja, who took the responsibility of being the aggressor and Dhoni playing second fiddle to him. And throughout the Indian innings, this 6th wicket partnership was the only one, which had all the ingredients of benefiting Team India.

Jadeja was looking imperious and sublime, which meant that the pressure on Dhoni subsided, and together they gave New Zealand bowlers a mauling towards the end of the Indian innings. Some flat sixes, some really humongous ones from the blades of Dhoni and Jadeja capped off the Indian innings with 278-5, a total which didn’t quite looked good enough. But, at the end of the Indian innings, you had to say that the impetus was slightly tilted towards India, and the responsibility was with the Indian bowlers to pick up a couple of early wickets, if they had to make 278 look like a formidable total.

The New Zealand innings

Unlike the Indian innings, which failed to get off to a brisk start, the Kiwi innings got off to a quick and rollicking start. Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder looked to attack the Indian bowlers from the word go, but it was a mixture of goofy field setting from MS Dhoni and good fortune for New Zealand, which saw New Zealand surge up to 54-0 at the end of 7 overs. Boundaries were flowing from both the ends, and the New Zealand openers looked irrepressible.

But a bowling change in the form of Varun Aaron brought about a reprieve and breakthrough for India. A length delivery that never looked menacing had Ryder playing away from his body, and inside-edging it onto his stumps.

A change of ends for Mohammed Shami saw him trap Guptill leg-before for 35, and New Zealand soon slipped to 58-2 with India just about getting themselves back into the game. The fall of Guptill was possibly India’s final joy on the evening, which closely pushed Team India towards another overseas series defeat.

The two in-form men for New Zealand joined together and put on a 130-run stand for the 3rd wicket, and took the game away from India’s grasp. Williamson has been India’s tormentor throughout this series, and he didn’t let India get away from another stupendous knock, which gave the kiwis a platform from where they could pull the curtains over any cynicism on the series result.

Ross Taylor played an aggressive knock in this partnership, and Williamson just had to play his natural game while Taylor was going all guns blazing at the other end.

The Indian bowlers could never put pressure on this partnership, and even Jadeja and Ashwin, who by far posed the biggest threat were also blunted soon enough, the game and the series was well and truly swinging the kiwi’s way. MS Dhoni called upon Rayudu to roll his arm over, but to no avail.

Stuart Binny was soon introduced into the attack, which was something that the Indian fans would have wanted to see on the night, but barring his first couple of deliveries, the wicket didn’t have much on offer for him, and Dhoni was soon running out of ideas. Stuart Binny, for his all-rounder tag didn’t get to bat, and played his debut game for India by bowling just a single over in the match. ‘Bizarre’ as it can get.

The ease with which Williamson and Taylor were playing, none of the Indian bowlers were allowed to settle down and to further compound problems for Dhoni, the Indian bowlers, lead by Shami, sprayed it all around the pitch and there was no scope for pressure to be built on the kiwi no.3 & no.4 at the crease.

It was not until the 35th over that the Indians managed to pick up another wicket, but only in the form of a run-out. A moment of brilliance on the field by Jadeja off his own bowling saw him run-out Williamson with a direct hit at the non-striker’s end, just as he was looking to steal a cheeky single.

With 91 runs required off 95 balls, and with Taylor still at the crease, you had to fancy the Blackcaps winning the game and with it the series. The New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum along with Ross Taylor made sure that there were no further hiccups, and as they desired, managed to win the game by 7 wickets, which consequently gave them an unassailable 3-0 lead with just a game left in the 5-match series.

Ross Taylor was the man-of-the-match for his brilliant match-winning knock of 112* in 127 balls.

Verdict

New Zealand couldn’t have asked for a better script, but more than anything, they have been full value for this massive result, which sees them remain ahead of the West Indies at no.7 in the ICC ODI rankings.

India have just been awful, and as things stand, the struggle in overseas conditions seems to be haunting a fabulous squad, which is full of talent.