New Zealand vs India 2020: 3 Talking Points from New Zealand's win over India in the third ODI
After being humiliated by India in the T20 series, New Zealand came back and took their revenge in the ODI series as they won the third and final ODI and defeated the visitors 3-0. The third ODI took place in Mount Maunganui and on a brilliant batting wicket, a returning Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first.
India started terribly and found themselves three down for 62 runs, before KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Manish Pandey powered the visitors to 296 for the loss of seven wickets after the end of 50 overs. Chasing a good total, New Zealand didn't look fazed as their openers gave them a wonderful start, before Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme finished the job.
Here, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from the match.
#3 KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are solidifying their positions
Before the start of this series, the Indian team management was seeing positive signs from KL Rahul - the wicket-keeper batsman and Shreyas Iyer - the solid number four batsman. In New Zealand, both of them took their chances, scored consistently and now, it seems, India might have finally found their best batting order.
Rahul smashed another century, scoring 112 runs from 113 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, while Iyer scored 62 runs from 63 balls, with nine fours. If there's only one positive India can take out of this series, it is the fact that Iyer and Rahul are stepping up and taking nothing for granted.
#2 Unforgiving New Zealand
New Zealand were clinical and unforgiving in the 3rd ODI as they not only won the game, but they did so quite easily and they were never really threatened by India during the three ODI's.
Chasing 297 isn't easy but the Kiwis made it look easy by playing their natural game from the very start. Martin Guptill smashed 66 runs from 46 balls, with six fours and four sixes, alongside Henry Nichols, who scored 80 runs from 103 balls.
When the hosts lost four quick wickets in the middle, Colin de Grandhomme came out and played the way he likes, scoring 58 runs from 28 balls, with six fours and three sixes. The Kiwi batsmen didn't let any bowler settle - not even Jasprit Bumrah - and that is a testament to the way New Zealand have played throughout the series.
#1 Rohit Sharma was missed and Virat Kohli's forgettable form continued
When Virat Kohli doesn't perform for India, this is something that we usually see as the skipper is very important to the Men in Blue. Furthermore, the absence of Rohit Sharma meant that India lost that calming influence of the Indian vice-captain and most importantly, his runs at the top of the order.
Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw couldn't take their chances, while Kohli didn't score a single half-century throughout the series, which is something that doesn't happen too often. If one wants to know the impact both Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have on this Indian limited-overs set-up, look no further than the losses the visitors suffered in New Zealand.