India defeated New Zealand in the 3rd ODI at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore by 90 runs and took the series 3-0. With this win, India has gone to the top of the ICC Men’s ODI rankings. This was India’s 58th win against New Zealand in one-day internationals. The next assignment for team India is a 3-match T20I series against New Zealand starting January 27 at Ranchi.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss and invited India to bat first on a good Indore pitch. The Indian openers were cautious at the start of the innings when the Kiwi bowlers found some swing and bounce with the new balls. However, after they got a good look at the pitch, both Rohit and Gill started playing their shots. Both the openers brought up their centuries with strike rates of over 100.
After the openers were dismissed in consecutive overs, the New Zealand bowlers were able to restrict the Indian scoring to an extent. The run rate was kept in check until the duo of Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur came to the middle. Pandya brought up his half-century and stitched a quickfire 50-run partnership. Eventually, India ended on 385 for 9 after 50 overs.
In reply, the New Zealand chase started on the worst possible note. Finn Allen was dismissed second-ball by Hardik Pandya. Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls put on a 100-run partnership to bring their chase back on track.
After Nicholls’ departure, Conway stitched a 78-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell to keep the Kiwis in the game. Shardul’s twin strike in the 26th over stopped the scoring rate of New Zealand. Although Conway scored a brilliant century, none of the Kiwi batters could stitch another substantial partnership to win the game. Eventually, they finished on 295 with more than 8 overs to go.
Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur were the picks of the Indian bowlers with 3 wickets apiece. Chahal got 2 wickets while Pandya and Umran picked up 1 wicket each.
Shardul Thakur was declared the player of the match for his quickfire 25 with the bat in hand and 3 wickets with the ball. Shubman Gill was adjudged the player of the series for 360 runs at an average of 180.