Trent Boult's 3 best spells against India
One of the best new-ball bowlers in modern-day cricket, Trent Boult celebrates his 34th birthday on Saturday, July 22, 2023. The New Zealand left-arm quick is one of the most sought-after players in T20 leagues right now, and his new-ball partnership with Tim Southee has terrorized opposition batters for a long time.
He loves performing against India, and has had the upper hand over the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, and many other Indian batters across all formats. Boult has been the difference-maker for New Zealand against India on multiple occasions. On that note, let's look at three of his best spells against India:
#3 3/20, T20 World Cup 2021, Dubai
While there are a couple of other spells to choose from, the importance and magnitude of this match trumps the others. New Zealand and India faced off in their second group-stage games of the 2021 T20 World Cup held in the UAE.
Both teams lost their opening fixture to Pakistan and needed a win to stay alive in the competition. Kane Williamson won the all-important toss and put India into the bat and Boult ensured that his skipper's decision was vindicated.
After picking up Ishan Kishan's wicket and keeping the run flow in check during the powerplay, he returned to bowl brilliantly in the death overs once again, preventing Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur from executing a jailbreak for India.
While Ish Sodhi was awarded the Player of the Match award for picking up the key wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Boult's spell of 3/20 in four overs was equally important as NZ registered an emphatic victory.
#2 5/21, India tour of NZ 2019, Hamilton
India were dominant in the five-match ODI series on their 2019 tour of New Zealand and won the first three matches to seal the series, but after resting Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni for the fourth ODI, they were in for a rude awakening.
The surface at Seddon Park, Hamilton, provided plenty of assistance to the fast bowlers. After winning the toss and putting India to bat, Boult ensured NZ made the most of it. He picked up the wickets of the Indian openers in his first spell, Shubman Gill and Kedar Jadhav in his second before ending India's fight by picking up Hardik Pandya's wicket.
India ended up getting bowled out for 92 in 30.5 overs, with Boult finishing with figures of 5/21 in his ten overs.
#1 4/35, NZ tour of India 2017, Mumbai
Quite a while before he was a fan favorite in Mumbai, Trent Boult produced a superb bowling performance at the same venue in the first ODI of a three-match series on New Zealand's tour of India in October 2017.
With Virat Kohli at his peak, this was never going to be an easy series for the visitors, and on a good Wankhede wicket, India opted to bat. Boult rattled India early with the new ball, once again accounting for Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, slowing down India's progress considerably.
And while Virat Kohli motored along to score another terrific hundred, Boult and his NZ teammates ensured he kept running out of partners. In a superb death bowling performance, Boult picked up the big wickets of MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya to help restrict India to 280/8 when 300 was easily on the cards.
While the other bowlers barring Mitchell Santner had taken a beating, Boult stood tall with figures of 4/35 in his ten overs. A hundred from Tom Latham helped New Zealand chase down the total and take a 1-0 lead.