Daryl Mitchell’s century guided New Zealand to a series-levelling win against India on Wednesday at Rajkot. Mitchell, who had scored 84 in the first ODI, played another important knock of 131 as the Kiwis defeated the Men in Blue by 7 wickets. With this win, the series is now tied at 1-1 with the last match on Sunday at Indore set to be for all the marbles.
Coming in at No.4, Mitchell smashed 2 sixers and 11 boundaries, cancelling out the gritty 112 runs by India’s KL Rahul in the first innings. He was aptly supported by Will Young who scored 87 before getting dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav. After that, Glenn Phillips stayed with Mitchell as the two veteran Black Caps members guided the team home.
Earlier, KL Rahul had held a faltering innings together on a sluggish surface with a gutsy hundred, guiding India to 284/7. Rahul produced a gritty unbeaten 112 off 92 balls which included 11 fours and two sixes, forging vital partnerships in the second half and snatching control from the Kiwis who had ran through India’s formidable batting line-up earlier.
New Zealand had seized control with discipline and some stroke of luck as India had slipped from 99 for one to 118 for four before the halfway mark, leaving Rahul and others with the task to rebuild on a track that remained tricky for batters due to its lack of pace and occasional low bounce.
The other major contribution from captain Shubman Gill (56 off 53), who collected his second half-century in as many games. With the Kiwi fast bowlers dominating the early exchanges by maintaining tight line and lengths, it took as many as 11 balls for Rohit Sharma (24) to get off the mark with a single.
With India in need of stability, local hero Ravindra Jadeja (27) walked out amid loud cheers and played his part well in a 73-run stand for the fifth wicket with Rahul.
However, Jadeja too was beaten by one that stopped a little on him as he hit one back to Bracewell for a low catch.
With Nitish Kumar Reddy (20) in row, Rahul added another 57 for the sixth wicket before the comeback all-rounder too fell for a slow, short ball from Zak Foulkes.
