Fresh off centuries in the warm-up game against the Indian Board President’s XI, Tom Latham and Ross Taylor continued from where they had left off and put on a record 200-run stand for the fourth wicket that helped New Zealand register a six-wicket win, which was also the highest successful chase at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Having restricted India to 280 for 8, thanks to Trent Boult’s four-wicket haul, New Zealand rode on terrific efforts from Latham (103*) and Taylor (95) to secure a 1-0 lead, which meant that Virat Kohli’s 31st ton, in his 200th ODI appearance, didn’t turn out to be the headline-grabbing effort, which could have been the case had it not been for the lack of support from the other end.
Although the Indian seamers were hitting the right areas at the start of the second innings, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro were up to the task, helping New Zealand off to a positive start. While there were a few edges that landed clear of the fielders, the openers weren’t deterred by that as they were keen to dictate terms to the Indian bowlers and not let them settle into a rhythm. What also didn’t help India’s cause was that Munro was handed a reprieve when Kedar Jadhav dropped him off Jasprit Bumrah, allowing the opening wicket partnership to prosper further. However, it didn’t last too long as a slower delivery from Bumrah ensured Munro’s departure for 28, ending a 48-run opening stand.
Guptill made use of the DRS to overturn a leg-before decision off Kuldeep Yadav, but the chinaman bowler managed to get the better of Kane Williamson – with Jadhav making up for his earlier miss. Guptill too departed a short while later after failing in his attempt to take on a short delivery from Hardik Pandya, leaving New Zealand in a further spot.
Taylor was living dangerously, struggling to pick the spinners but managed to hang around and was aided by Latham in building a partnership that kept New Zealand in the hunt. While Taylor’s struggles against the spinners continued, Latham was also not being the best judge of which way the ball was turning. Nevertheless, they managed to capitalise on the freebies that were on offer every now and then, while also ensuring strike rotation and not letting India apply more pressure on them.
For Taylor and Latham, their task at hand was to replicate what they had done a few days back – New Zealand were reduced to 73 for 3 before Taylor and Latham scored centuries to set up New Zealand’s victory in the warm-up game against the Indian Board President’s XI. They were doing just that in this game, pacing their partnership well, putting in the hard yards, keeping the spinners at bay regardless of some of their struggles, to register half-centuries en route a valuable partnership that titled the game in favour of the visitors.
Despite their best efforts, the spinners did not have any luck in terms of wickets – Chahal ended his spell with 51 runs for no returns while the New Zealand captain’s wicket was Kuldeep’s lone scalp as he finished with 1 for 64 off his 10 overs. The fourth wicket pair, in the meantime, had extended their partnership past 150 to put New Zealand firmly in the driver’s seat. Nearing the finish line, it was only a competition of who would get to the century first, which Latham did, getting there off 95 deliveries. Taylor survived a leg-before review before getting out on 95, which allowed Henry Nicholls to score the winning runs with a boundary off Bhuvneshwar in the penultimate over.
Earlier, Kohli and Trent Boult were at the forefront of a see-saw battle in the first innings at the end of which India finished with a competitive total. Despite none of the partnerships that he was involved in crossing 75, Kohli produced an innings that served as a shining example of how to counter testing sub-continental conditions even as a persistent Boult kept pegging away at the other end and finished with excellent figures of 4 for 35. While his batting partners deserted him abruptly after doing all the hard work on a slow Wankhede wicket, Kohli, who came in as early as the fourth over, overcame the challenges from the opposition as well as the oppressive heat, falling only in the 50th over after a hardworking 121 off 125.
Kohli’s early arrival to the wicket was as a result of Shikhar Dhawan falling to Boult when he tried to punch a delivery that rose slightly from a length. Rohit Sharma just about managed to clear the fine-leg fielder for two successive sixes off Tim Southee before his Achilles Heel – left-arm pace – brought about his downfall when he tried to play across the line to be bowled by Boult. Despite the hot and humid conditions in Mumbai, Boult was unfazed and bowled with a lot of energy, leaving India in early trouble. The left-arm pacer’s craving for more blood was evident as he steamed in and had Kedar Jadhav hopping. He also kept Kohli quiet and went past the outside edge once, earning the acknowledgement from the Indian skipper who’s immediate approach was to weather the storm and keep Boult at bay.
While the wrecker-in-chief left the field to catch his breath after an excellent first spell (5-1-7-2), Williamson rotated his other bowling options while Kohli and Jadhav tried to rebuild the innings. Their partnership, however, came to an abrupt halt as Jadhav committed the cardinal sin of playing early on a wicket that was stopping, gifting a simple return catch to Mitchell Santner to leave India three down in the 16th over. Dinesh Karthik, included in the eleven a the expense of Manish Pandey, assisted Kohli in damage control while New Zealand rued a missed opportunity when Santner put down the Indian captain off Colin de Grandhomme. To add to his woes, the New Zealand all-rounder was seen clutching his knees and throwing up during the 21st over, and left the field not too long after.
The fourth wicket pair, which had initially struggled to come to terms with the slow wicket, learnt from the past errors and began displaying the virtues of playing late. But, just as they were providing the platform which was earlier denied by the fall of wickets, India lost another against the run of play as Karthik’s promising outing was cut short when he top-edged an attempted hook off Southee to fine-leg. The tone of the fifth wicket stand between Kohli and Dhoni was similar to the previous one but, as was the case with the last two stands, the association too came to premature end. Kohli, who was at the non-striker’s end when Pandya’s potential blistering innings cut short by Boult, continued unperturbed as he was throughout his stay, and with some good hitting by Bhuvneshwar in the death overs, the hosts managed to give their bowlers a fair amount of runs to defend, although it wasn’t quite enough in the end.
Brief scores:
India 280/8 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 121, Dinesh Karthik 37; Trent Boult 4-35, Tim Southee 3-73) lost to
New Zealand 284/4 in 49 overs (Tom Latham 103*, Ross Taylor 95; Hardik Pandya 1-46) by 6 wickets.
