India have lost a bilateral One Day International (ODI) series to New Zealand for the very first time at home.
The streak is broken, and it is two brilliant tons from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips at the heart of it. While Virat Kohli also fired back with a century of his own, it all went in vain as rest of the Indian batting lineup, bar Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy, failed to fire.
Shubman Gill, taking over the reins from Rohit Sharma, is still on the hunt for his maiden ODI series victory as captain, having now lost two series 2-1, first against Australia, and then against New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Strong Comeback After Early Setbacks
Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana struck early blows, rendering the score 5-2 after 1.1 overs.
Will Young departed after a while, which seemed like trouble, but Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips formed a 218-run partnership, which marked the first time in ODI history that two New Zealand batters scored centuries in the same innings against India.
Mitchell led the charge with a commanding knock that included 15 fours and three sixes, while Phillips complemented him with nine fours and three sixes.
Daryl Mitchell dominated this series, and his aggregate of 352 runs in the series is now the highest ever by a New Zealand batter in a three-match bilateral ODI series.
This allowed the Kiwis to set a 338-run target for India to chase.
Kohli’s Ton Goes In Vain
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were tasked with providing India with a solid start, but the former, a veteran, sell after scoring 11 runs.
Gill was cleaned up shortly afterwards, followed by single digit scores from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
For a while, Nitish Reddy, who scored a half century, formed a solid partnership with Virat Kohli. After he departed, Jadeja stepped out, but to no effect.
It was then up to Kohli and Harshit Rana, who stitched a 99-run stand, featuring some big hits from the young fast-bowler, and quality striking from the veteran, who smashed yet another ODI century.
Rana’s 43-ball 52 instilled hope in the Indian fanbase, but when he fell, it was truly done and dusted. Kohli followed soon after on 124, and the remaining tail collapsed in no time.
