MOHALI, India: Virat Kohli scored yet another hundred in a run-chase, an unbeaten 154, as India hunted down a target of 286 to take a 2-1 lead in the One-day International (ODI) series here on Sunday.
India lost both openers with only 41 on the board, before Kohli and MS Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 4, added 151 for the third wicket to bring the equation down to 94 from 85 balls. New Zealand may have sensed an opening, given the inexperience of India’s middle order, but Manish Pandey showed no nerves in adding an unbroken 97 with Kohli to steer India home with 10 balls remaining.
The team batting second had won each of the last three ODIs in Mohali before this, chasing down 299, 258 and 304. Given that recent trend, given the likelihood of dew setting in under lights, and given Kohli’s record in chases, New Zealand probably needed at least 300 to test India on a flat batting surface with true bounce.
They looked like they would get there, when a 73-run second-wicket partnership between Tom Latham and Ross Taylor took them to 153 for 2 in the 29th over, but a middle-order collapse cost them what turned out to be a significant amount of momentum. They lost six wickets for 46 runs in the space of 9.2 overs.
James Neesham and Matt Henry added 84 for the ninth wicket to rejuvenate their innings, but their total of 285 was probably 20 runs short of posing India a serious challenge.
Score Board
India won toss
New Zealand
M J Guptill lbw b Yadav 27
T W M Latham c Pandya b Jadhav 61
*K S Williamson lbw b Jadhav 22
L R P L Taylor st Dhoni b Mishra 44
C J Anderson c Rahane b Jadhav 6
†L Ronchi st Dhoni b Mishra 1
J D S Neesham c Jadhav b Yadav 57
M J Santner c Kohli b Bumrah 7
T G Southee b Yadav 13
M J Henry not out 39
T A Boult b Bumrah 1
Extras (w 7) 7
Total (all out; 49.4 overs) 285
Fall: 1-46, 2-80, 3-153, 4-160, 5-161, 6-169, 7-180, 8-199, 9-283, 10-285
Bowling: Yadav 10-0-75-3 (3w); Pandya 5-0-34-0 (2w); Bumrah 9.4-0-52-2; Jadhav 5-0-29-3 (2w); Patel 10-0-49-0; Mishra 10-0-46-2
India
R G Sharma lbw b Southee 13
A M Rahane c Santner b Henry 5
V Kohli not out 154
*†M S Dhoni c Taylor b Henry 80
M K Pandey not out 28
Extras (lb 2, w 7) 9
Total (3 wickets; 48.2 overs) 289
Did not bat: K M Jadhav, A R Patel, H H Pandya, A Mishra, U T Yadav, J J Bumrah
Fall: 1-13, 2-41, 3-192
Bowling: Henry 9.2-0-56-2 (1w); Boult 10-0-73-0 (2w); Southee 10-0-55-1 (2w); Santner 10-0-43-0; Neesham 9-0-60-0 (2w)
Result: India won by 7 wickets
Series: India lead the 5-match series by 2-1
Man of the Match: V Kohli (India)
Umpires: B N J Oxenford (Australia) and C Shamshuddin. TV umpire: A K Chaudhary. Match referee: R B Richardson (West Indies)
