Boult shines as NZ thrash India in World Cup warm-up

LONDON: Trent Boult starred with the ball as New Zealand thrashed India in a World Cup warm-up match at the Oval on Saturday.

The left-arm seamer exploited overcast conditions and a pitch with plenty of grass cover to finish with four for 33 as India were skittled out for just 179 in 39.2 overs.

Ross Taylor (71) and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (67) both spent useful time in the middle as the Black Caps won with almost 13 overs to spare.

Earlier, Boult removed openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for two apiece to leave India 10 for two.

Ravindra Jadeja (54) and Hardik Pandya (30) were the only India batsmen to make it past 19.

India captain Virat Kohli fell for 18 to medium-pacer Colin de Grandhomme when the star batsman was clean bowled by a ball that cut back in off the seam as he aimed towards mid-wicket.

Kohli’s men were in danger of being dismissed for under a hundred when MS Dhoni, the captain of the India side that won the 2011 World Cup, fell to Southee to leave his team on 91 for seven.

But Jadeja’s 50-ball innings, featuring six fours and two sixes, helped rally the tail.

India, however, were still bowled out with nearly 10 overs of their innings remaining, with James Neesham taking three for 26.

Score Board

India won toss

India

R G Sharma lbw b Boult 2

S Dhawan c Blundell b Boult 2

*V Kohli b de Grandhomme 18

K L Rahul b Boult 6

H H Pandya c Blundell b Neesham 30

M S Dhoni c Neesham b Southee 17

†K D Karthik c Sodhi b Neesham 4

R A Jadeja c Guptill b Ferguson 54

B Kumar c Taylor b Neesham 1

Kuldeep Yadav c & b Boult 19

Mohammed Shami not out 2

Extras (b 4, lb 8, w 4) 16

Total (all out; 39.2 overs) 179

Did not bat: J J Bumrah, Y S Chahal

Fall: 1-3, 2-10, 3-24, 4-39, 5-77, 6-81, 7-91, 8-115, 9-177, 10-179

Bowling: Southee 7-0-26-1 (w 1); Boult 6.2-1-33-4 (w 2); Grandhomme 6-0-12-1; Ferguson 8-0-33-1; Neesham 6-1-26-3; Santner 3-0-19-0 (w 1); Sodhi 3-0-18-0

New Zealand

M J Guptill c Rahul b Pandya 22

C Munro lbw b Bumrah 4

*K S Williamson c Sharma b Chahal 67

L R P L Taylor c Kohli b Jadeja 71

H M Nicholls not out 15

†TA Blundell not out 0

Extras (lb 1) 1

Total (4 wickets; 37.1 overs) 180

Did not bat: T G Southee, T A Boult, C de Grandhomme, J D S Neesham, L H Ferguson, M J Santner, I S Sodhi

Fall: 1-8, 2-37, 3-151, 4-179

Bowling: Kumar 4-0-27-0; Bumrah 4-2-2-1; Shami 4-0-16-0; Pandya 4-0-26-1; Chahal 6-0-37-1; Yadav 8.1-0-44-0; Jadeja 7-0-27-1

Result: New Zealand won by 6 wickets

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka). TV umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka). Match referee: David Boon (Australia)