KL Rahul was a class above the rest on a two-paced track and rescued India from a precarious position. KL Rahul came when the team was in crisis and played a spectacular knock as he reached his 8th ODI ton remaining unbeaten on 112 off 92 balls with 11 fours and one six to his name. Shubman Gill scored a half-century at the top of the order while others failed to come to the grip of the pitch.
For New Zealand, Kristian Clarke picked up 3 wickets while Jayden Lennox and Michael Bracewell bowled really well and kept it tight especially Lennox on debut. The pacers went for a bit but New Zealand will still be the happier side at the interval as they are chasing less than 300 at Rajkot.
Shubman Gill & Rohit Sharma gives India a solid start in first powerplay
Put into bat first, Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for India while Kyle Jamieson had ball in hand for New Zealand. Jamieson started with a maiden. Zak Foulkes shared the new ball from the other end. He too kept things tight. Jamieson continued and bowled another good over. Foulkes continued as Gill broke the shackles as he got top of the bounce and cut it past the diving backward point fielder for a boundary. Jamieson continued and bowled another decent over.
Foulkes continued as Rohit rocked back and cut it past the left of backward point for a boundary. Rohit completed 7000 runs in ODIs in Asia. Rohit was not done yet as a few balls later he pressed forward and creamed it by a lofted cover drive over covers for a boundary. Jamieson continued as Gill clipped it towards midwicket region for a triple. Rohit then cut Jamieson away through backward point for a boundary. Rohit went again as leaned forward and played it with soft hands to the short third man fence.
Foulkes continued as Gill took the attack to him by first cutting him away for a boundary and then helped it on its way over long leg for the maximum. Kristian Clarke came onto the attack next as Gill tucked him away past short fine leg for a boundary. Gill again hit Clarke by cutting the short and wide ball away past cover point region for a boundary. Clarke overstepped but the free hit yielded a dot ball.
Debutant Jayden Lennox came into the attack to bowl the last over of mandatory powerplay. He bowled a decent first over giving away 2 runs. At the end of the mandatory powerplay, India were off to a solid start at 57/0 in 10 overs with Rohit on 21* off 31 balls while Shubman Gill the captain was with him on 31* off 30 balls. India had the better of the powerplay one can conclude.
Kristian Clarke’s 3-wicket haul rocks India as New Zealand go into the pounce seat after 25 overs.Â
Kristian Clarke continued after the powerplay as Gill played the short arm jab past short midwicket for a boundary. Lennox continued as Gill pressed forward and drove through the covers for a boundary. Clarke continued and provided the breakthrough for New Zealand as he removed Rohit for 24 off 38 balls with 4 fours to his name as the batter tried to go big and miscued it up in the air to Will Young at deep cover. Virat Kohli came out to bat next.
Kohli got off the mark with a trademark cover drive for a boundary. Gill then showed his class as he creamed the ball through the covers for a boundary. Lennox continued and bowled a decent over. Jamieson continued as Gill rocked back and slapped it through the covers for a boundary as he reached his fifty in 47 balls, his 17th ODI fifty as it was back-to-back fifties for the Indian captain. Lennox continued and bowled another miserly over.
Jamieson continued as Kohli tucked it away past short fine leg for a boundary. Gill then drove crisply through short extra cover for a boundary. But Jamieson hit back and got rid of captain Gill for 56 off 53 balls with 9 fours and one six to his name as the short ball was pulled to short midwicket fielder as Mitchell took the catch. Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next as Drinks came onto the field as well. He got off the mark soon as the 100 came up for India in 17 overs.
Lennox continued and bowled another quiet over. Captain Michael Bracewell came into the attack next. Bracewell started with a decent over as well. Kristian Clarke came back into the attack and bowled a decent over as India reached 112/2 in 20 overs. Bracewell continued and kept things really tight. Clarke continued and he got rid of Iyer for 8 off 17 balls as he threw his wicket away by lofting it straight to Bracewell at mid-off. KL Rahul came into the attack and was struck on the helmet straightaway.
Bracewell continued and bowled another tight over. Clarke then got the huge wicket of Virat Kohli to swing the match in India’s favour as the straighter ball was met with an angled bat and he opened the bat face and looked to steer it down to deep third man and got an inside edge back into the stumps. Kohli fell for 23 off 29 balls with 2 fours to his name. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Bracewell continued and bowled another decent over as India at the halfway stage of the innings were 122/4 in 25 overs with KL Rahul batting on 2* off 8 balls and Ravindra Jadeja batting on 2* off 6 balls.
KL Rahul & Ravindra Jadeja leads the recovery for India before the latter falls to Michael Bracewell.Â
Glenn Phillips came into the attack for the first time in the innings. He started his spell with a decent over. Bracewell continued and bowled another decent over. Phillips continued as Rahul showed his class by stepping down the track and drilling it through covers for a boundary. Bracewell bowled another good over keeping things tight. Phillips bowled another decent over. India were 142/4 in 30 overs. Bracewell continued and kept things under check as always.
Zak Foulkes came back into the attack for another spell. He bowled a decent over as well. Jayden Lennox came back into the attack as well. He too bowled a decent over even as the 150 came up for India in 32.4 overs. Foulkes continued as Jadeja pulled it away past short fine leg for a boundary. India reached 160/4 in 34 overs when we had the second Drinks Break in Rajkot.
Lennox continued after the break and bowled a decent over. Foulkes continued as Rahul shuffled across and cut it past backward point for a boundary as the desperate dive from Conway did not save the ball. Rahul then hit Foulkes by whipping it away to backward square leg for a boundary. Lennox continued as Rahul hammered him straight down the ground for a boundary.
Jamieson came back into the attack as Rahul pressed forward and drove it past the left of mid-off for a boundary. Bracewell came back into the attack and struck gold for New Zealand as he got rid of Jadeja for 27 off 44 balls with one boundary to his name as the batter chipped it back to the bowler who took a good catch. Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next. It was a wicket maiden over from Michael Bracewell. ‘
Kyle Jamieson came to bowl the 40th over. Rahul looked to flick Jadeja to the leg side and got a leading edge to the backward point and short third man region for a boundary as Rahul reached his half-century off 52 balls. His 21st ODI fifty and one of the most important ones for him. India were 199/5 in 40 overs with Rahul on 52* off 53 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy on 2* off 7 balls. The match was somewhat in the balance with New Zealand slightly ahead at this stage.
KL Rahul’s magical 8th ODI ton leads India to a competitive 284/7 in 50 overs.Â
Michael Bracewell continued as the 200 came up for India in 40.1 overs. Kristian Clarke came back into the attack. He bowled a decent over as well. Bracewell continued as Rahul broke the shackles by reverse sweeping it to the right of backward point for a boundary. Bracewell ended with magical figures of 1/34 in 10 overs. Clarke continued as Reddy cleared his front leg and whacked it over wide long-on for a maximum.
Jayden Lennox came back into the attack and bowled another decent over. India were 239/5 in 45 overs. Kyle Jamieson came back into the attack and bowled another decent over. Zak Foulkes came back into the attack and got rid of Nitish Reddy as he was holed out in the deep for 20 off 21 balls with a maximum to his name. Harshit Rana came out to bat next. He got off the mark straightaway. The 250 came up for India in 46.4 overs. Rahul then went inside out over extra cover with lofted shot for a boundary.
Lennox continued and got rid of Rana for his maiden ODI wicket as Rana was holed out in the deep for 2 off 4 balls. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next. He got off the mark straightaway. Lennox finished with 1/42 in 10 overs. Rahul then took on Jamieson and lofted him over covers for a boundary. And then Rahul’s moment came as he went straight down the ground over long-on for the maximum and he reached his 8th ODI hundred. He got there in 87 balls as the man for the crisis stood up for India.
Zak Foulkes came back to bowl the final over of the innings. Rahul then hit Foulkes for a boundary by smoking him down the ground for a boundary over mid-off. He ended the innings in style with a boundary as he threw his hands at the wide ball and the ball flew away to the third man fence for a boundary. India recovered from a dire situation to reach 284/7 in 50 overs. Rahul was unbeaten on 112 off 92 balls with 11 fours and one six to his name while Siraj was unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
New Zealand put in an impressive bowling display. Kristian Clarke picked up 3/56 in 8 overs. Michael Bracewell the captain picked up 1/34 in 10 overs. Jayden Lennox on debut finished with 1/42 in 10 overs. Kyle Jamieson finished with 1/70 in 10 overs. Zak Foulkes finished with 1/67 in 9 overs. Glenn Phillips slipped in 3 overs and gave away 13 runs. So, this means that New Zealand needs 285 runs to win the contest in 50 overs to level the series 1-1.
Who’s Winning, India or New Zealand?Â
India were in all sorts of trouble at one stage at 118/4 in the 24th over. But thanks to KL Rahul’s masterful knock, India got themselves to 284/7 in 50 overs which is a competitive score, something to bowl at but not a winning score by any means. Despite Rahul’s heroics, we feel New Zealand will be the happier side and will be the favourite going into the chase. The batting is strong and experienced for New Zealand. India have to bowl well and hold onto their catches to make a match out of this.
Let’s see what the second half of the game have instore for us.
Also Read:Â IND vs NZ: Aakash Chopra Feels A Single Win For New Zealand Will Be A Major Achievement