India vs New Zealand India 3rd ODI: India crush New Zealand by 7 wickets to win their first series on New Zealand soil in 10 years
An all round performance by the Indian team enabled them to seal the series against the host for the first time in last 10 years by defeating New Zealand by 7 wickets in the 3rd One day international played Mount Maunganui on Monday.
New Zealand won the toss and batted first, and were bowled out for 243 runs in 49 overs. Indian batsmen reached the target with 7 overs to spare.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. Mohammed Shami struck early dismissing Colin Munro for 7 runs. Martin Guptill was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar to put New Zealand under pressure at 26 for 2. Captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor steadied the ship helping the hosts to score 42 for 2 at the end of 10 overs.
Kane Williamson was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal who was brilliantly caught by Hardik Pandya for 28 runs. Ross Taylor and Tom Latham steadied the New Zealand innings taking singles and putting bad balls away for boundaries. Both batsmen played Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav reasonably well. Taylor reached his fifty off 71 balls while Tom Latham scored his fifty off 62 deliveries. Soon after reaching his fifty, Tom Latham was dismissed by Chahal for 51 runs. Taylor and Latham added 119 runs for the 4th wicket.
Good Bowling Attack
It was a great bowling effort by Indian bowlers who picked wickets and did not allow the New Zealand batsmen to score runs easily. From 191 for 5, the Indian bowlers picked wickets at regular intervals. Ross Taylor was dismissed for 93 runs and then could not score many runs at the end. New Zealand were bowled out for 243 in 49 overs. For India, Mohammed Shami took 3 wickets, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 wickets each.
Chasing the target of 244 runs to win, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the team a decent start adding 39 runs for opening wicket. Trent Boult dismissed Dhawan for 28 off 27 balls. India scored 44 for 1 at the end of 10 overs.
Rayudu and Karthik Finish the Job
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played with positive intent putting pressure on New Zealand bowlers. Rohit Sharma reached his fifty off 63 balls while Virat Kohli scored his fifty off 59 balls. Mitchell Santer dismissed Rohit Sharma for 62 runs. Both Rohit Sharma and Kohli added 113 runs for the 2nd wicket. Virat Kohli got out for 60 runs. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik did job for Indian team as they added 77 unbeaten runs for the 4th wicket and helped India win the series.
With this win, India seal the series. The fourth ODI will be played at Hamilton on 31st January.
India 245 for 3 in 43 overs ( Rohit Sharma 62, Kohli 60, Rayudu 40*, Dinesh Karthik 38*, Trent Boult 2/40) beat New Zealand 243 in 49 overs ( Ross Taylor 93, Tom Latham 51, Mohammed Shami 3/41, Hardik Pandya 2/45) by 7 wickets