Wellington, Nov 7 (PTI) India’s star-studded batting line-up suffered initial jitters before KL Rahul didn’t let a young fast bowling unit’s superb show go waste, ensuring a hard-fought four-run win over New Zealand in a rain-affected low-scoring second ODI here on Thursday.
India lead the five-match series 2-0 with the third match in Hamilton scheduled on Tuesday.
Chasing 135 in 47 overs, India were 113 for seven in 26 overs when heavens opened up with Rahul unbeaten on 26. The DLS par-score at the time was 109 before the match was called-off, giving the visitors the all-important win.
It was the strapping Gurnoor Brar, who recorded career-best figures of four for 30 and was beautifully complemented by Auqib Nabi (2/31 in 7 overs) and Anshul Kamboj (2/25 in 8 overs). The trio clinically decimated the Black Caps for 134 in just 41 overs.
With pitch aiding bounce and movement, the chase became way more tough than expected. Skipper Shubman Gill (0) was caught in the slip cordon off the very first ball that he faced from Jacob Duffy. Duffy then got his RCB teammate Virat Kohli (7) to drive uppishly and short cover took a simple catch.
Rohit Sharma (23 off 28 balls) played one confident flick shot for six but generally looked uncomfortable against moving deliveries that beat his bat more often than not.
He also tried an expansive shot to be caught in the slip. Axar Patel (7) played a false ramp shot while Shreyas Iyer (30), after doing all the hard work, fell to the short ball again.
Rahul, who played 18 dots in his first 20 balls, hit two pull-shots — one that was kept down and the other was deliberately hit up for a six.
With scoreboard pressure not being there, Rahul could soak in the pressure while calmly taking team past the finish line. Once Rahul hit Duffy for a second six to get his team past 100-run mark, there was no looking back even as he lost Naman Dhir (12) and Anshul Kamboj at the other end.
Earlier, Brar once again scared the daylights out of a seasoned New Zealand batting unit with raw pace and disconcerting bounce while Nabi got the ball to seam in his first spell while Anshul Kamboj (2/25 in 8 overs) once again bowled a probing line.
Brar used the short ball tactic to perfection, cutting through the Black Caps middle-order with surgical precision.
Arshdeep Singh (0/16 in 7 overs) also bowled accurate lines and remained parsimonious through his opening spell and in the middle overs.
In all, Indian bowlers sent down as many as 176 dot balls.
This was after Shubman Gill once again called correctly at the toss and opted to make full use of the overcast conditions and underlying moisture after steady downpour reduced the game to 47-overs-a-side.
It was Nabi who drew first blood when Tim Seifert (0) found a delivery holding a bit as he tried to check his uppish drive. Kamboj dived in-front at mid-wicket to present Nabi with his first international wicket.
Will Young (6 off 17 balls) struggled as he played and missed a lot of deliveries only to be dismissed soon after.
It was a beautiful delivery on the off-stump channel that looked like moving in through the air before moving a shade after pitching, inducing the edge from Young.
Henry Nicholls (11 off 26 balls) also scratched around for half an hour before Kamboj ended his misery in the ninth over of the innings.
The Haryana pacer moved slightly wide off the crease and fired one in cramping the southpaw for room. The ball hurried onto him quicker than he expected and he played on.
New Zealand were reduced to 29 for three in the opening powerplay. Post powerplay, it was Brar’s turn to bounce the batters out as he enjoyed a double wicket maiden over getting both Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips with perfectly executed short pitched deliveries.
In case of Latham, it was a wide bouncer which batter had to reach while in case of Phillips, it was aimed at him. Both offered easy skiers to have New Zealand looking down the barrel at 53 for five.
Daryl Mitchell (55 off 104 balls), who was dropped by skipper Gill had skipper Mitchell Santner (31 off 38 balls) for company in a 59-run stand that was never going to be enough for a resurrection. PTI
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