India remains unbeaten with hard fought win over New Zealand

DHARAMSALA: India were made to fight hard for their fifth successive win in the ongoing Cricket World Cup by New Zealand and it was another prodigious knock by Virat Kohli that saw them home with two overs to spare at Himachal Pradesh CA stadium here on Sunday.

Kohli came within five runs of scoring back-to-back hundreds and also equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most number of ODI centuries – 49. But in his attempt to get there, Kohli holed out to long-on much to the disappointment of the spectators being dismissed for 95 off 104 balls (8 fours, 2 sixes). India eventually chased down 274 with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Lokesh Rahul all getting starts but none converting them into anything substantial other than Kohli. 

Daryl Mitchell’s career-best 130 and a 159-run third wicket stand with Rachin Ravindra (75) saw New Zealand post 273. Helping New Zealand rebuild from a precarious 19/2, Mitchell and Ravindra set a solid platform for the late surge but the hosts pulled things back remarkably at the backend with regular wickets, inspired by Mohammed Shami’s 5-54.

Early strikes from Mohammed Siraj and Shami in an excellent powerplay upfront had New Zealand in early trouble after being put in to bat. New Zealand had only 34/2 from the powerplay – third lowest score in that phase this World Cup – helped only by a generous offering of wides in the 10th over from Siraj.

Mitchell then joined hands with Ravindra to together bail New Zealand out with their big partnership. Ravindra had a fair bit of brush with DRS and lifelines at 0, 6 and 50 and made India pay for it. 

Mitchell counteracted the spinners not allowing them to settle down and raised his second half-century of the World Cup in 60 balls and then went onto convert it into a run-a-ball 100 by the 41st over. He also had his fair share of luck with K.L. Rahul spilling a tough chance behind on 59 and then Jasprit Bumrah dropping another sitter when he was on 69.

Shami eventually came to India’s rescue as he broke the stubborn stand, triggering the collapse around a well-set Mitchell and ended up with a five-wicket haul in his first game of this World Cup. – (ST)

Scores: New Zealand 273 (50) (Rachin Ravindra 75, Daryl Mitchell 130, Glenn Phillips 23, Mohammed Shami 5/54, Kuldeep Yadav 2/73)

India 274-6 (48) (Rohit Sharma 46, Shubman Gill 26, Virat Kohli 95, Shreyas Iyer 33, Lokesh Rahul 27, Ravindra Jadeja 39*, Lockie Ferguson 2/63)