New Zealand created history at the Holkar Stadium in Indore as they outplayed their opponents India in all facets of the game to win by 41 runs and the series by 2-1 as they win their first series in India. New Zealand were switched on and better than India in all the critical moments of the game. New Zealand were put into bat first and they recovered from early jitters to post a massive 337/8 in 50 overs thanks to magnificent tons from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips and some insipid bowling from India.
In reply, Virat Kohli’s 54th ODI ton and 85th International ton went in vain as good fighting fifties from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana could not save India the blushes as the top order failed and the middle order could not come up to the pressure. Kristian Clarke and Zak Foulkes picked up 3 wickets apiece as New Zealand created history as this was India’s first loss in ODIs at Indore. The day of firsts under the Gautam Gambhir era.
Daryl Mitchell & Glenn Phillips’ Magical Tons Power New Zealand to 337/8
Put into bat first, Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls came out to open for New Zealand while Arshdeep Singh had ball in hand for India. Arshdeep made immediate impact as he got rid of Nicholls for a golden duck after Conway had hit a boundary and got a reprieve as well. Will Young joined Conway in the middle. In the very next over, Conway fell to Harshit Rana for 5 off 4 balls with a boundary to his name as he found the edge through to Rohit Sharma. This brought Mr. Dependable Daryl Mitchell to the middle.
Young and Mitchell then had to rebuild things for New Zealand and they did that as Young was dealing in boundaries while Mitchell got into the groove soon. The duo took advantage of inconsistent bowling from India and took full tole of it. The duo played through the first mandatory powerplay as the score after 10 overs was 47/2 for New Zealand. They went beyond the 10 overs as well.
The duo put on 53 runs for the third wicket before Young fell after getting a start as he made 30 off 41 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name as Rana got his wicket and Jadeja pulled off a stunner at backward point. New Zealand were 58/3 in 12.1 overs when Daryl Mitchell was joined by Glenn Phillips. The duo got together and was quickly off the blocks. What followed next was a brilliant batting masterclass from the duo of Mitchell and Phillips.
They put the pressure on Indian bowlers and increased the run rate gradually. The duo aced the middle phase and played into the initial phase of death overs. This partnership really began to hurt India as no bowler was made to settle in. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja the spinners were taken to the cleaners as they gave away 89 runs in 12 overs that they bowled. India struggled to get wickets in the middle overs and that is a huge concern for the Men in Blue looking ahead.
Mitchell loves playing cricket and loves India and he put on a show while Phillips grew into confidence and rightly was the aggressor of the two. The duo not only put up a century stand but converted that to a double century stand for the 4th wicket and it was the highest for any wicket against India by New Zealand. India lacked ideas and didn’t know where to go to for a wicket. The bowlers and fielders were awestruck by what the duo put on the cricketing field.
Both of them completed their marvellous tons with Mitchell getting his 9th ODI ton and Phillips his 2nd ODI ton. The duo put on 219 for the 4th wicket before India finally had a breakthrough dismissing Phillips for 106 off 88 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Captain Michael Bracewell came out to bat next. The duo added 6 runs to the scoreboard before Mitchell fell for 137 off 131 balls with 15 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Mohammed Siraj as a magnificent innings from the Number 4 batter came to an end.
Mitchell Hay came out to bat next. Just 3 more runs were added to the score before Hay fell for 2 off 6 balls LBW to Kuldeep Yadav as he was plumb in front and wasted a review in the process. Zakary Foulkes came out to bat next. Bracewell and Foulkes added crucial runs for New Zealand and took the score beyond 300. The duo put on 18 runs for the 7th wicket before Foulkes fell for 10 off 8 balls with one four to his name to Arshdeep Singh. Kristian Clarke came out to bat next.
Clarke hit some lusty blows to the fence while Bracewell was doing the bulk of the scoring and providing the perfect finish to the New Zealand innings. Clarke took down Harshit Rana as the duo of Bracewell and Foulkes added 23 runs for the 8th wicket before Clarke fell for 11 off 5 balls with one four and one six to his name as he was cleaned up after exposing his stumps to Harshit Rana. Kyle Jamieson came out to bat next.
Kyle Jamieson did not come on strike as Bracewell faced the last over from Siraj. He hit a maximum off Siraj over deep midwicket before the bowler conceded 4 byes to the batting side as New Zealand ended with a mammoth 337/8 in 50 overs with Bracewell remaining unbeaten on 28 off 18 balls with one four and three sixes to his name while Jamieson was with him on 0* off 0 balls. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers for India on a tough day for the bowlers as he ended up with 3/63 in 10 overs. Harshit Rana was expensive as he finished with 3/84 in 10 overs. Mohammed Siraj bowled well but without much luck as he finished with 1/43 in 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with unimpressive figures of 1/48 in 6 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled 8 overs for 53 runs while Ravindra Jadeja finished with 0/41 in 6 overs. This meant India needed a massive 338 runs to win off 50 overs to take the series 2-1.
Virat Kohli’s 54th ODI ton goes in vain as India fall short to lose series to New Zealand for the first time in India
Chasing a mammoth 338 for the win, Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for India while Kyle Jamieson had ball in hand for New Zealand. The openers gave India a brisk start as Gill was the aggressor of the two while Rohit played second fiddle. The opening duo put on 28 runs in 4 overs before Rohit fell for another low score of 11 off 13 balls with 2 fours to his name to Zakary Foulkes.
That brought Virat Kohli to the crease. Captain Shubman Gill looked good and Kohli got himself in but the duo could only muster 17 runs for the second wicket before the captain fell for 23 off 18 balls with 4 fours to his name once again getting a start and not converting it into something substantial. Vice-Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next.
It was a struggle for Iyer at the crease as he just couldn’t get going. Kohli tried to keep up with the rate as they added 23 runs for the third wicket before Iyer fell for 3 off 10 balls to Kristian Clarke. KL Rahul came out to bat at 5 as the keeper batter came to a crisis situation yet again. But he couldn’t do much this time as after the addition of 3 more runs to the score, Rahul fell for 1 off 6 balls to Jayden Lennox. Nitish Kumar Reddy was promoted to Number 6 with the score at 71/4 in 12.5 overs.
Reddy and Kohli had to rebuild things for India and they tried doing that by keeping the run rate under check. Reddy got himself in and looked fluent out there as the innings wore on. The duo kept taking the game deep as much as possible. They put on a vital 88-run stand for the 5th wicket to bring India back on track before Reddy fell after getting his half century. He made 53 off 57 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Kristian Clarke. At 159/5 in 27.3 overs, the game was as good as over when Ravindra Jadeja walked out to bat next.
Jadeja struggled out there but still tried to hang in and build a stand with Kohli. The duo added 19 for the 6th wicket before Jadeja fell for 12 off 16 balls to Lennox. Harshit Rana came out to bat with India in dire straits at 178/6 in 32.1 overs. This is where the game seemed done and dusted but Kohli and Harshit showed the fight to the Kiwis and decided to play their natural game and take the game deep.
Rana was playing a useful hand while Kohli was at his usual self unfazed by the daunting task at hand. As the partnership grew, New Zealand were a tad nervous as they knew their captain Michael Bracewell won’t bowl due to some thigh issues. The duo kept fighting for India as Kohli not only got to a half century but converted it into a big one.
Rana too completed his half-century which was a useful knock by him while Kohli completed his 54th ODI hundred, 85th in international cricket and first at this venue. Kohli had to go for the big hits even after completing his ton. The duo put on an impressive 99-run stand for the 7th wicket before Rana was dismissed for a well made 52 off 43 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next and fell first ball for a golden duck caught down the leg side as both wickets taken by Foulkes in 2 balls and was on a hat-trick.
Kuldeep Yadav saved the hat-trick ball. He himself hit a boundary while Kohli tried his best as well. The duo of Kohli and Kuldeep added 15 runs for the 9th wicket before Kohli fell for a magnificent 124 off 108 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes to his name as a magnificent innings came to an end in vain. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next. He hit a boundary and then Kuldeep got run out for 5 off 3 balls with one four to his name. Arshdeep remained unbeaten on 4 off 2 balls with one four to his name as India were bowled out for 296 in 46 overs. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
The New Zealand bowlers bowled well without the services of their captain Michael Bracewell due to thigh strain. Kristian Clarke finished with 3/54 in 9 overs. Zakary Foulkes finished with 3/77 in 9 overs. Jayden Lennox was excellent with his figures of 2/43 in 10 overs. Kyle Jamieson finished with 1/58 in 9 overs. Daryl Mitchell bowled an over for 10 runs while Glenn Phillips bowled 8 overs for 54 runs. So, a win for New Zealand by 41 runs as they take out the 3-match series 2-1. Daryl Mitchell was adjudged the Player of the Match and Player of the Series.
What Lies Ahead
The ODI series is done and dusted and it has gone in favour of New Zealand as they win the series 2-1. Next-up is the all important 5-match T20I series starting on 21st January, 2026 which is on Wednesday. It is the first of five T20Is live from Nagpur. India will be led by Suryakumar Yadav while New Zealand will be led by the leader of men Mitchell Santner. The last series for both teams before ICC WC 2026 in February-March.
Let’s see how the shortest format unfolds between the two teams.
Also Read:Â IND VS NZ: Daryl Mitchell & Glenn Phillips Powers New Zealand To Massive 337/8.