India defeated New Zealand by 6 runs in the deciding match played at Green Park Stadium, Kanpur just finished a few minutes ago. It was a high scoring match as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scoring centuries helping team India to post a massive total of 337 for 6 in 50 overs. Chasing the target of 338, the New Zealand batsmen made great efforts but fell short of the target.
New Zealand captain Kane Willamson won the toss and invited the hosts India into bat. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma got the team off to a steady start with 29 runs before Dhawan was dismissed for 14 runs. Kohli and Sharma looked in great touch hitting the bad balls away for boundaries. At the end of first 10 overs, India scored 53 runs. After the powerplay overs, both batsmen continued to play with positive intent. Rohit Sharma completed his half-century off 52 balls. Captain Kohli also showed his class smashing the New Zealand bowlers.
Kohli too completed his half-century in 59 balls and continued to take singles, hit boundaries. Both of them played with aggressive intent. Sharma completed his century in 106 balls and continued to put pressure on New Zealand bowlers. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a brilliant 147 in 138 balls and added 230 runs for the second wicket. Hardik Pandya came at number 4 to hit some big shots.
Virat Kohli completed his 32nd One-day international century in 96 balls. Hardik Pandya was dismissed for 8 in 6 balls. Captain Kohli played captains knock and was dismissed for 113. In the last 10 overs, the Indian batsmen could not score many runs. India scored a massive total of 337 for 6 in 50 overs.
Chasing the target of 338, New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Collin Munro got off to a flying start adding 44 runs in 5.1 overs. At the end of 10 overs, New Zealand scored 74 for 1. Munro completed his half-century off 38 balls while Williamson scored his fifty in 59 balls.
Both batsmen added 109 runs for the second wicket. Yuzvendra Chahal took 2 wickets in quick succession to put pressure on New Zealand. Tom Latham and Ross Taylor steadied the innings with 89 runs stand for the fourth wicket. Ross Taylor was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah for 39. It was an amazing display of batting by Tom Latham along with Henry Nicholls adding 59 runs for the 5th wicket. Tom Latham completed his half-century off 38 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled brilliantly in death overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed dangerous Henry Nicholls. Tom Latham also was dismissed in the 48th over. Â Jasprit Bumrah showed great composure and held his nerves. New Zealand posted 331 for 7 in 50 overs.
India 337 for 6 in 50 overs ( Rohit Sharma 147, Kohli 113, Mitchell Santer 2/58) beat New Zealand 331 for 7 in 50 overs ( Collin Munro 75, Tom Latham 65, Kane Williamson 64) by 6 runs
Man of the match Rohit Sharma said: Â It feels great when you help your team to contribute to winning matches. I enjoy batting at Kanpur and did a great job to play long innings. The coach Sanjay Bangar helped me to work on my weakness and when results come it is quite pleasing.
Captain and Man of the series Virat Kohli said : New Zealand played great cricket in the three games. There was dew and the pitch settled in the second innings. We thought that we were 25 runs short. The way out bowlers showed character to bounce back from being in a tough situation.
With this win, India wins the ODI series 2-1. India will face New Zealand in three-matches T20I series from 1st November
