India skipper Shubman Gill rued the missed chances and the bowlers’ inability to take wickets in the middle overs as New Zealand levelled the 3-match ODI series 1-1 on the back of a patient 131-run innings by Daryl Mitchell, winning the second match at Rajkot by 7 wickets.
“We couldn’t pick up any wickets in the middle overs. With five fielders in, if you don’t keep taking wickets in the middle overs, it becomes very difficult even if we would have added 15-20 more runs. And if you don’t pick up wickets in the middle overs, it’s very difficult to stop a batsman. On these kind of wickets, you know, as soon as you have a partnership, the set batsman has to make it big because it’s not easy for the batsman coming in to score freely,” Gill said after the match.
“In the first 10-15 overs, the ball was doing a little bit. We could have been more brave with the bowling. Even in the last match, we let down a couple of chances,” he added.
New Zealand not only adapted but also executed better than India on a sluggish wicket here at the Niranjan Shah Stadium to keep the hosts to 284/7 despite Rahul’s 91-ball 112 not out (9 fours, 1 six), and overhauled the target in 47.3 overs to end at 286 for three. The series-deciding third ODI will be played in Indore on Sunday.
Young and Mitchell, among the architects of New Zealand’s 3-0 Test series win over India on their previous visit, batted with poise and control even as the asking rate hovered over six an over.
They cruised at a little above five during their second-wicket association which consumed 152 balls for 162 runs, and there wasn’t any late hiccup to prevent a turnaround.
Young’s (87 from 98 balls; 7 fours) solidity in the middle was complemented by the adroitness of Mitchell, who brought out almost all kinds of sweep shots to notch up his third ton against India and overall eighth, finishing at 131 not out from 117 balls (11 fours, 2 sixes).
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New Zealand’s triumph in a 50-overs match also took the spotlight back onto a problem which India have faced in Tests for about two years now, with the home team’s spin attack being outmatched by that of the visitors, albeit that’s been mostly in red-ball cricket.
(With agency inputs)
