DHARAMSALA: In the end, it was a contest that lived up to the hype. From Daryl Mitchell’s success story to Mohammed Shami’s dream return to the playing XI to Mitchell Santner’s stellar spell to Black Caps fielders throwing themselves on the field to the anticlimactic end to Virat Kohli’s quest of equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI 100s, the contest had it all. The end result — the hosts winning with four wickets and 12 balls to spare to leapfrog their opponents to top the table — became academic once Kohli got stuck in with Ravindra Jadeja.
While it was India’s fifth win in as many matches, this one did not come easy. Chasing 274, Sharma and Shubman Gill did set the tone, but they did not last long. The inspired New Zealand bowling attack just kept pegging away with wickets. First, it was Sharma, then Gill.
Just when Kohli was getting started, along with Shreyas Iyer, something else happened; play was stopped because of fog. The clouds were slowly coming over the venue in the evening and during the eighth over of the chase, the umpires took the players off the field because of the prevailing conditions. Unlike at most other stadia, the floodlights at Dharamsala are relatively at a lower height because of the altitude. And with the dispersion of light through the mist adding to the haze, it went to an extent where Shreyas and Kohli could have had trouble seeing the white ball. After an 11-minute stoppage, play resumed.
Kohli, coming on the back of a match-winning century against Bangladesh, once again started of with some glorious shots against Lockie Ferguson. The ball was travelling to the boundary as fast as it reached Kohli. However, as is always the case, New Zealand did not give an inch. They removed Shreyas as the compulsive puller found deep square leg, Devon Conway.
Joined by KL Rahul, Kohli did what he does best. He nudged a single here and a two there to keep the chase going. Knowing the template he follows, Tom Latham’s brigade were throwing themselves on the field to ensure they were building up at least a notional sense of pressure.
It seemed to work; at one point, Kohli was batting on 28 from 47 balls. As is often the case, he caught up going after Ravindra to hit the all-rounder over the ropes. A drive here and pull there would follow to pick up boundaries. Between some glorious shots, Kohli also had the odd scare. What made it even more difficult for him was KL Rahul getting out at the wrong time.
It was only after they needed 19 runs from four overs did Kohli go for his shots. He was on 82 and had to score 18 to get to the record-equalling ODI ton. Kohli smashed Trent Boult into the stands and followed it with another four down the ground. A single and a two followed as he retained strike. Sensing another 100, he went for a Hollywood ending but holed out in the deep off Matt Henry when he was on 95.
The century had to wait, but he had done his job for the night, getting a standing ovation from a packed crowd. Jadeja did the rest to take India home. Before all this, there was Shami. Among fast bowlers with more than 100 ODI wickets, only Mitchell Starc (26.2) has a marginally better strike rate than Shami (27). Yet, he had to sit out India’s first four World Cup games because of the working combination that had Hardik Pandya. Getting the chance in Pandya’s absence, Shami did not take long to show why he is world-class.
Shami ran in and released the ball with his signature upright seam. It pitched on short of length outside off-stump before coming back into Will Young, who tried to play it off the square only to edge the ball back onto the stumps; a first-ball wicket for Shami in his home World Cup. Even as Ravindra and Mitchell revived the innings, it was Shami who broke the partnership as Ravindra tried to hit the pacer down the ground. In the death overs, Shami came back again to clean up Mitchell Santner’s off-stump and followed it up with a full, straight delivery that beat Matt Henry for pace. Shami became the first Indian to take two five-wicket hauls in ODI WCs as he dismissed Mitchell and Boult in the final over of the innings. Ten overs, 54 runs, five wickets and a place in the history books.
It was a day that had it all, but as India got home, there was one name echoing around the mountains. Virat Kohli. India next face the defending champions, England, on October 29.