On the back of stylish centuries from openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, Team India on January 24 (Tuesday) defeated New Zealand by 90 runs at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. As a result, the Men in Blue reclaimed the No.1 spot in the ODI rankings. Rohit Sharma's men also completed their second successive whitewash of 2023 after defeating Sri Lanka by a margin of 3-0 earlier in the month. On a wicket that was tailor-made for batters to impose their will on bowlers, Indian willow-wielders came out all guns blazing.
After visiting captain Tom Latham decided to bowl first, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and in-form Shubman Gill came out with a positive mindset, and what ensued was absolutely thrilling to watch. On a batting paradise, the Hitman started off well and took the aerial route early. He toyed with the Kiwi bowlers before reaching his century from 83 deliveries in the 26th over of the innings with a single. His batting partner Shubman Gill continued his sublime form and registered second ton of the series. Rohit and Shubman combined for a 212-run opening partnership, handing India a scintillating start.
Rohit registered his 30th ton in the format and second against New Zealand. The Hitman scored an elegant 101 runs off 85 balls with the help of nine fours and six sixes. With his 30th ton, he equalled Ricky Ponting's tally of centuries in the format. His last ODI century came against Australia on January 19, 2020. On the other hand, Gill's ton included 13 fours and five sixes before he was dismissed for 112 runs off 78 balls.
New Zealand clawed their way back by dismissing India's middle-order batters cheaply. Virat Kohli (36 runs off 27 balls), Ishan Kishan (17 runs off 24 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (14 runs off nine balls) failed to thrive on a batting-friendly strip. Hardik Pandya (54 runs off 38 balls) and Shardul Thakur (25 runs off 17 balls) provided the finishing touches to the Indian innings which proppeled the team's score to 385/9 in 50 overs.
Blair Tickner and Jacob Duffy bagged three wickets each but the latter conceded 100 runs in his spell of 10 overs. Michael Bracewell added one wicket to his name.
In reply to the daunting target set by the Men in Blue, the Black Caps were rocked early as Hardil cleaned up Finn Allen for a duck in the second ball on the innings. Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls then combined for a 106-run partnership for the second wicket which made the game interesting. Nicholls departed after scoring 42 runs off 40 balls as Kuldeep Yadav provided India with the breakthrough. Conway continued his onslaught and registered a fantastic hundred. The southpaw battled a lingering hamstring issue and smacked Indian bowlers to all corners of the stadium.
The Kiwi opener scored 138 runs off 100 deliveries with the help of 12 fours and eight sixes but he didn't get any significant support from the other end. Daryl Mitchell (24 runs off 31 balls), Michael Bracewell (26 runs off 22 balls) and Mitchell Santner (34 runs off 29 balls) all got starts but failed to convert that into a substantial score.
Indian bowlers kept their composure to end New Zealand's innings at 295/10 in 41.2 overs. Shardul Thakur (3/45 in six overs) and Kuldeep (3/62 in nine overs) bagged three wickets each. Yuzvendra Chahal bagged two wickets while Hardik and Umran Malik added a wicket each to their name.
