India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI | NZ win in a thrilling finish

Hardik Pandya’s (36) heroics couldn’t stop New Zealand from winning the 2nd ODI of the series by 6 runs in a thrilling finish. Kedar Jadhav (41) was the highest scorer for the hosts and skipper MS Dhoni contributed 39 runs in the team’s chase of 243-run target.

New Zealand scored 242/9 riding on skipper Kane Williamson’s fine century (118). With the win, New Zealand squared the five-match series 1-1. 

Known for their loud cheers and Bhangra whenever the Indian team plays at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium, the Delhi crowd went into a hush when home boy Virat Kohli was unexpectedly dismissed for a rare single-digit score but expressed delight that the second ODI between India and New Zealand turned out to be nailbiting.

Kohli’s failure at the Kotla in the second One Day International dampened the mood of the spectators, who wanted their local hero to score a century during India’s chase, with some even started returning home with his dismissal.

“We were here to watch a (Virat) Kohli innings… but somehow it wasn’t his day… just hope the others will take our team through,” said Ritesh, who along with his friends were on their way back home just after Kohli’s dismissal in the 12th over of India’s innings.

“He top scored in the first match at Dharamsala… and today, it was just an unlucky day… wish it didn’t happen in Delhi… but whoever bats must take India over the line,” another cricket buff said.

The usually vocal Kotla crowd went silent once Kohli was caught behind by Luke Ronchi followed by the quick dismissals of Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey.

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But with Mahendra Singh Dhoni walking into the middle, the Delhi crowd were on their feet again with the hopes that Captain cool — one of the world’s best finishers — will take India over the line.
The Ranchi stumper didn’t disappoint and along with Kedar Jadhav brought up a 66-run fifth wicket stand before the pair parted ways. 

Despite Hardik Pandya lifting the spirits with some late order heroics, the hosts fell short by six runs in the second match. Irrespective of the outcome of the match, some fans were seen dancing to the tunes of various popular Bollywood numbers.

Some even were delighted at the match going down to the wire rather than being a dull one-sided affair. “I am happy that finally New Zealand showed they are capable of winning… this is their first win in the series… they were the better team on the day… we will win the series though,” college student Raman, who came with his friends, said.

The following is the scoreboard of the second One-Day International (ODI) between India and New Zealand at the Ferozeshah Kotla:

Scoreboard

India won the toss and chose to field

New Zealand 242/9

Martin Guptill b Umesh 0
Tom Latham lbw b K Jadhav 46
Kane Williamson c Rahane b Mishra 118
Ross Taylor c Rohit b Mishra 21
Corey Anderson lbw b A Mishra 21
Luke Ronchi c Dhoni b Axar 6
Mitchell Santner not out 9
Anton Devcich c Axar b Bumrah 7
Tim Southee b Bumrah 0
Matt Henry b Bumrah 6
Trent Boult not out 5

Extras 3 (b 0, lb 0, w 3, nb 0, p 0)
Total 242 (9 wickets, 50 overs)

Fall of Wickets: 0-1 (Martin Guptill, 0.2 overs), 120-2 (Tom Latham, 20.3), 158-3 (Ross Taylor, 30.6), 204-4 (Corey Anderson, 40.5), 213-5 (Kane Williamson, 42.4), 216-6 (Luke Ronchi, 43.3), 224-7 (Anton Devcich, 45.1), 225-8 (Tim Southee, 45.5), 237-9 (Matt Henry, 49.2)

Bowlers
Umesh Yadav 9-0-42-1, Hardik Pandya 9-0-45-0, Jasprit Bumrah 10-0-35-3, Axar Patel 10-0-49-1, Amit Mishra 10-0-60-3, Kedar Jadhav 2-0-11-1

India

Rohit Sharma c Ronchi b Boult 15
Ajinkya Rahane c Anderson b Southee 28
Virat Kohli c Ronchi b Santner 9
Manish Pandey run out 19
MS Dhoni c and b Southee 39
Kedar Jadhav c Ronchi b Henry 41
Axar Patel c Santner b Guptill 17
Hardik Pandya c Santner b Boult 36
Amit Mishra c sub (Doug Bracewell) b Guptill 1
Umesh Yadav not out 18
Jasprt Bumrah b Southee 0

Extras (lb 5, w 8) 13
Total (all out; 49.3 overs) 236

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Sharma, 7.1 overs), 2-40 (Kohli, 11.4), 3-72 (Rahane, 18.4), 4-73 (Pandey, 19.2), 5-139 (Jadhav, 31.1), 6-172 (Dhoni, 39.3), 7-180 (Patel, 40.1), 8-183 (Mishra, 40.5), 9-232 (Pandya, 48.5), 10-236 (49.3)

Bowling

Matt Henry 10-0-51-1, Trent Boult 10-2-25-2, Tim Southee 9-0-49-2, A.P. Devcich 9-0-48-0, Mitchell Santner 10-0-49-1, Martin Guptill 1-0-6-2