IND vs NZ 3rd ODI: The Black Caps won the third and final ODI against India by 41 runs on Sunday in Indore and clinched the series 2-1. Though Virat Kohli scored a century, India couldn’t chase a large total and made history as the Black Caps won their first ODI series in India.
India were, however, left to contend with the target of 338. They scored 296, losing all ten wickets. Virat Kohli again proved to be the hero as he scored 124 runs, thus registering his 85th international century. Kohli did his best to help India get as close as possible to the target, but he was not given the best possible support.
Youngsters Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana hit some crucial knocks and scored half-centuries, giving some hope to India. But the required run rate was consistently mounting, and the disciplined bowling by the Kiwis finally bogged them down.
Earlier, New Zealand scored a massive total of 337 runs when they were asked to bat first. The Indian bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana picked three wickets each in a bid to contain the runs. However, the century partnerships between Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips swung the game in favor of the New Zealanders.
Daryl Mitchell continued to perform in good touch, scoring 137 runs off 131 deliveries, thus scoring his second consecutive century in this series. Glenn Phillips played an aggressive knock of scoring 106 runs off only 88 deliveries.
India struggled to stem the flow of runs towards the end, and the partnership between Mitchell and Phillips turned out to be decisive.
This victory did not only secure the series win for the Kiwis but also marked a historic win as they won an ODI series in India for the first time. This defeat was quite eye-opening for India as it once again exposed some weaknesses in their bowling attack along with struggling to finish big targets.
