One of the best performances by the bowlers, says Mahendra Singh Dhoni
The Indian cricket team won the final match of the ODI series against New Zealand on Saturday in Vizag thus clinching the series 3-2. The Men in Blue dominated the match right from the word go. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaped praise on the Indian bowlers and said that their performance in the final ODI was one of the best over the years.
The Indian team defeated the Kiwis by 190 runs in the fifth and final ODI of series, thanks to an all-round team performance. However, there was one man who raised quite a few eyebrows with his magical spin bowling - Amit Mishra.
The leg-spinner made full use of the slow turning track in Vizag and rattled through the New Zealand batting order. Mishra took 5 wickets by giving away just 18 runs in his 6 overs.
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Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Dhoni said, "Mishra’s beauty is he bowls slow, so as a keeper you have time to recover. And in tandem with Axar Patel, who bowls flat and quick, it was very good."
The spinners took 8 of the 10 New Zealand wickets in the final ODI of the series. While Mishra took the bulk of the wickets (5), Patel managed to pick two and debutant Jayant Yadav picked up one wicket.
Dhoni said that he was extremely satisfied by the performances of the Indian bowlers throughout the series. He said, "It was one of the best performances by the bowlers. This was one game where the spinners bowled with a lot of assistance. Before this when we bowled first, the wicket was always better to bat in the first half. It was an exceptional performance as there was a bit of dew. The pace at which the spinners bowled was perfect."
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Mishra was adjudged man of the match as well as man of the series for picking up 15 wickets in the five ODIs that he played at an impressive average of 14.33
Dhoni praises Kohli, Sharma and Rahane
Dhoni went on to say that the batsman showed a great character in adapting to the slow pitch of Vizag. He praised the contributions of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma.
“I think Virat was superb with the bat. We got off to a decent start. When Rohit got injured, the message was if you think you can’t carry on, just play your shots. Once he Kohli got out, Rohit gave us some momentum. We felt it was a difficult wicket to freely rotate. That’s when we decided to play the big shots. We felt 270 was par-plus but considering the dew factor that was necessary," he said.
Dhoni also said that the five-match ODI series against the Kiwis gave the Indian management a perfect platform to test some of the youngsters in their preparation for the Champions Trophy next year.