By Bharat SharmaKanpur, Oct 29 (PTI) India came up trumps in a battle ofnerves against a gutsy New Zealand to win the all-importantthird ODI by six runs and clinch their seventh successivebilateral series by 2-1 margin, here tonight.
Rohit Sharma (147 off 138) and Virat Kohli (113 0ff 106)conjured up classy hundreds to fire India to a record 337 forsix after being put into bat.
The target was imposing but New Zealand fought gamelythrough Colin Munro (75 off 62), Kane Williamson (64 off 84)and Tom Latham (65 off 52) before being restricted to 331 for7 in the wake of some fine death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah.
For the better part of the match, Indian bowlers dishedout an ordinary bowling performance but bounced back when itmattered the most -- in the final three overs.
Required to defend 15 runs in the final over, 'King ofDeath' Bumrah (3/47 in 10 overs) delivered yet again andconceded only eight runs in the 50th over. More importantly,he bowled an astounding 32 dot balls in his 10-over spell.
It seemed it was game on with the flying start providedleft-hand opener Munro.
He set the tone for the daunting task on the very firstball he face, flicking Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a monstrous sixover midwicket.
Three more fours including the one from overthrow was tofollow in the first over of the innings that went for 19 runs.
The in-form Kumar had an off day as he leaked 92 runs from his10 overs.
While his opening partner Martin Guptill (10) fellcheaply again, Munro and Kane Williamson (64) kept thevisitors very much in the hunt with an 109-stand off 105balls.
The pair batted with supreme confidence on a flatsurface, especially Munro who was not afraid to switch hit andcharge down against the spinners. It was also a knock ofsubstance from Williamson, who had not fired in the seriesuntil tonight.
The two had taken New Zealand to 152 for one in 24 oversbefore under pressure India bounced back in the match withYuzvendra Chahal removing the set batsmen. Their fall stoppedthe run flow and the required run rate per over went beyondeight, leaving the heroes of Mumbai Ross Taylor and Latham alot to do.
They batted well, completing a 79-run partnership off 69balls with their team needing 91 off the last 10 overs.
Latham carried on and played flawless to take his team onthe brink of victory alongside Henry Nicholls before nervesgot the better of them during the business end of the innings.
Earlier, Sharma and Kohli, who became the first everpairing to complete four double hundred partnerships in ODIs,were simply unstoppable against a New Zealand bowling attackthat looked pretty ordinary on the day.
Their spectacular showing also helped India comfortablybeat the previous highest score at Green Park, 303 for fivethat South Africa made against them two years ago.
The destructive duo was in complete control ever sinceShikhar Dhawan (14) departed in the seventh over and ended upwith a record breaking 230-run stand off 211 balls.
While Kohli had already hit a fine hundred in the seriesopener, Sharma rose to the occasion after failing in the firsttwo games after New Zealand put the home team in.
The last time he played an ODI here, he made 150, and twoyears on, the stylish-right hander from Mumbai gave the packedcrowd an evening to remember for a long time.
There are not many prettier sights in cricket than seeingSharma bat in full flow. And he did look in fine form rightfrom the time he slashed a gentle loosener off Tim Southeeover point in the first over of the match.
The Kanpur pitch, usually slow and low, played well withthe ball coming on to the bat nicely. The signs were ominousfor the opposition when Sharma easily picked pacer Adam Milnefor a huge six over midwicket.
He gave the same treatment to left-arm spinner Santner inhis first over, collecting two boundaries with a cut and sweepbefore getting to his 50 off 52 balls.
Kohli, on his part, began with two crisp boundaries offSouthee, one through the covers and the next one a whip overmidwicket.
Without taking much risk, the star pair managed to get anodd boundary in the middle overs and by the time Sharma got tohis 15th ODI hundred in 33rd over, India were cruising at 183for one.
Sharma was finding the fence more frequently than Kohlias he hammered 18 fours to go with two maximums. The twobatsmen changed gears in the 36th over and the bowler at thereceiving end this time was pacer Trent Boult, who leaked 17runs in that over including four fours.
The next over saw them picking three fours off Grandhommewith the last one getting Kohli past the 9000-run mark inODIs, making him the sixth Indian to do so and fastest to getthere overall.
After Sharma fell to a tired shot in the 42nd over, Kohlibreezed to his 32nd hundred and his second in the series, witha single off Santner. PTI BS KHSKHS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
