India beat New Zealand in the second ODI by 6 wickets with 24 balls to spare. Dinesh Karthik maybe the answer to India’s No.4 conundrum, he scored 64 runs from 92 balls. MS Dhoni provided the crowd with some entertainment with two boundaries in a row off Trent Boult. A soft dismissal for Hardik Pandya, got out for 30. Interestingly, Hardik Pandya came to bat at No.5 ahead of Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni. Earlier Shikhar Dhawan got down the track and gave an easy catch to the covers, Adam Milne got the breakthrough. Dhawan got to his half-century in 53 balls. Dhawan survived a review in order to get to his half-century. Dinesh Karthik, the new No.4 for India is doing well trying to build a partnership with Dhawan. Virat Kohli played well but got out to Colin de Grandhomme trying to play a cover drive. Before that Dhawan-Kohli attacked New Zealand bowlers and scored boundaries in the powerplay overs. Rohit Sharma got out early in the innings to Tim Southee.
New Zealand manage to put a lowly score of 230 for 9 in the first innings. Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first seeing that the pitch is a batting paradise. But Indian seamers had done their homework. They removed the New Zealand top order batsmen back to the pavilion in the powerplay overs. It was on Tom Latham and Ross Taylor to rescue the innings once again but they got out after getting good starts. Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme launched a counter-attack but they too could not stay until the end. Yuzvendra Chahal got two wickets in two balls. Mitchell Santner tried to get New Zealand to a respectable total but got out in the 49th over. Tim Southee struck a few big hits towards the end helping his team to a total of 230 for 9.
India’s playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
New Zealand’s playing XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
About Indian Team:
Apart from Kohli, no other batsmen performed to their potential. In the 2nd ODI, all eyes will be on Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni. Kedhar Jadhav needs to perform at No 4. Dinesh Karthik, if he gets a chance again, will be hoping to prove the selectors right.
In the bowling department, apart from medium-pacer Hardik Pandya (1/46), no other player left a mark as they only managed to take 4 wickets. The spinners, who had done well against the Australians, also failed drastically. Axar Patel can make it into playing XI and Yuzvendra Chahal can be dropped for today’s big battle.
About New Zealand Team:
New Zealand, on the other hand, stunned everyone with their performance in the first ODI. The way their batsmen tackled Indian spin attack was amazingly superb. Their top-order batsmen are in fine-form and their bowlers also did a good job. They will be hoping to continue the momentum.
The visitors will now be aiming for a win again as it will give New Zealand their first bilateral series win in India, having lost all five preceding series while India will look to equalise.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(captain), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, M.S. Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Glenn Phillips, George Worker, Tom Bruce, Ish Sodhi.
