Virat Kohli’s record-extending 85th international century and his 54th in ODIs could not prevent India from losing the series as New Zealand sealed the third and final match by 41 runs in Indore on Sunday, registering their first-ever bilateral ODI series victory on Indian soil.
Kuldeep Yadav was run out in the final moments of the chase, bringing the game to an end in New Zealand’s favour. The Black Caps, who had never won an ODI series in India in seven previous attempts, closed the three-match contest 2-1.
Chasing 338, India were rocked early as Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul fell cheaply. Kohli then stitched together an 88-run partnership with Nitish Kumar Reddy to revive the hosts. Reddy fell for 53, but Kohli carried on to register yet another landmark hundred.
“Cometh the hour, cometh the man! The chase master has scored yet another hundred for India. It is the 85th international century for Virat Kohli, and his record-extending 54th in ODIs. Kohli has scored his 7th hundred against New Zealand, the most by any batter against the side in ODIs.”
However, the target proved too steep, and India eventually folded, falling short by 41 runs.
Earlier, centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips powered New Zealand to 337 for eight. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana took three wickets each, but the visitors recovered from 58 for three through a commanding 219-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Mitchell struck his second consecutive century of the series, making 137 off 131 balls with 15 fours and three sixes, while Phillips hit nine fours and three sixes to score 106 off 88 balls. Towards the end, skipper Michael Bracewell added an unbeaten 28 off 18 balls with three sixes and a four.
While Arshdeep returned figures of 3/63 from his full quota, Rana was expensive, conceding 84 runs from 10 overs for his three wickets.
Mitchell was named both Player of the Match and Player of the Series after finishing as the top-scorer with 352 runs from three matches at an average of 176.
“It’s really nice to contribute to the team. To win here in India is special. As a group, the way we built partnerships, it’s nice to be up there. I am trying to stay in the present and hopefully make the right decisions. I love playing for my country. All those years in domestic cricket helped me,” Mitchell said.
India captain Shubman Gill admitted the hosts fell short as a unit.
“After the first match, coming here 1-1, the way we played — disappointed. There are areas we need to look back, reflect and do better. (On the positives) The way Virat is batting is always is a plus. The way Harshit has batted in this series, batting at No. 8 is not easy. The way he stepped up and the way the fast bowlers bowled in this series was good as well,” Gill said.
On giving Nitish Reddy eight overs with the ball, Gill added, “Keeping the World Cup in mind, we want to give him opportunities and we want to give him enough overs and see what kind of combinations work for us and what kind of deliveries work for him.”
Gill had won the toss and opted to bowl first. India had taken the opening ODI in Vadodara by four wickets before New Zealand levelled the series with a seven-wicket win in Rajkot on Wednesday.
India made one change, bringing in Arshdeep Singh for Prasidh Krishna, while New Zealand fielded an unchanged XI.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer and wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi have been added to India’s Twenty20 squad for the ensuing five-match series starting January 21 in Nagpur. They replace the injured Tilak Verma and Washington Sundar, respectively.
Line-ups:
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay, Michael Bracewell (captain), Zakary Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Kristian Clarke, Jayden Lennox.