[Watch] Kuldeep Yadav punctures NZ's chase with double-strike
Kuldeep Yadav once again displayed the value he brings to India's ODI team, picking up a couple of crucial wickets against New Zealand in the first ODI on Wednesday, January 18.
Kuldeep scalped Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell, both good players of spin, with some fantastic bowling that left the Kiwi pair bamboozled in Hyderabad. The deception that he produced despite the duo's general comfort in dealing with spin spoke volumes about the left-arm chinaman bowler's brilliance.
In the 16th over of the second innings, Nicholls smashed Kuldeep in front of square for a boundary. He then tried to cut a shortish delivery outside off-stump off the very next ball but failed to read the googly as it spun sharply into him and dislodged the bails.
Click here for a video of Henry Nicholls' dismissal.
What a delivery from @imkuldeep18 to dismiss Henry Nicholls.
Bowls a wrong un and Nicholls is bowled for 18 runs.
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Mitchell, meanwhile, seemed to have found a way to tackle Kuldeep by using the lap sweep behind the square. Captain Rohit Sharma plugged that gap with a leg slip and in the 18th over, Kuldeep bowled a flipper that Mitchell failed to read.
By the time the batter brought his bat down to defend, the ball had already smashed into his pads. Kuldeep Yadav was ecstatic with the dismissal as it was a well-planned one.
Click here for a video of Daryl Mitchell's dismissal.
Kuldeep Yadav has once again derailed an opposition's chase
Kuldeep Yadav continues to produce spells that make one wonder how he is not a nailed-on starter for India, at least in ODI cricket. Although the target of 350 looked ominous, New Zealand had a number of players who were more than decent at playing spin.
In the last 60 overs in ODI, Kuldeep Yadav has taken 16 wickets.
Kuldeep's breakthroughs were immensely valuable and showed just how far he has come over the past year. He is expected to be one of India's main weapons at the World Cup later this year.
After India posted 349/8 in the first innings on Wednesday, New Zealand were placed 130/5 after 28 overs at the time of writing with a mammoth task ahead of them.