NZ win series against India after rain plays spoilsport
Christchurch: A sloppy India lost the three-match ODI series against New Zealand 0-1 after rain washed out the third and final game here on Wednesday.
Chasing 220, New Zealand were cruising at 104/1 in 18 overs, 50 runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score, when rain interrupted the game yet again in the white-ball series.
Kane Williamson and Co, needing just 116 runs from as many as 32 overs, though had to be content with a 'no result' as the game was two overs short to be technically called complete. Having won the first ODI in Auckland by seven wickets, New Zealand thus sealed the series 1-0. The second match in Hamilton, too, was abandoned after two stoppages.
Overall, only two matches in the six-ball white-ball series produced result, exposing the poor planning on part of the concerned authorities. The series was organised less than a week after the T20 World Cup in neighbouring Australia.
As for India, the series exposed their flawed selection policy.
It all began with an inspiring bowling show by the Kiwi pacers with comeback man Adam Milne (3/57) and Daryl Mitchell (7-0-25-3) bundling out India for 219 in 47.3 overs after Kane Williamson won a good toss at an overcast Hagley Oval.
The likes of Rishabh Pant (10 off 16 balls), Suryakumar Yadav (6; 10b) and Deepak Hooda (12; 25b) were the biggest failures as they lacked application and failed to
bide time after Milne rocked the top-order. Seeking to
save the series, India found themselves in a spot of bother, losing half of the side in 25.3 overs.
But thanks to the efforts by Washington Sundar (51 off 64 balls; 5x4s, 1x6) and Shreyas Iyer (49; 59b) India managed to get past the 200-run mark.
Mline, who sat out the second ODI, took the opening duo of Shubman Gill (13; 22b) and Shikhar Dhawan (28; 45b) after Matt Henry stifled them with a tidy bowling display (10-2-29-0), before Mitchell and Tim Southee (8.3-1-36-2) wrapped up the issue.
Dhawan and his men were further disappointed by an inexperienced bowling attack as they struggled to get a breakthrough. Finn Allen (57 from 54 balls; 8x4, 1x6) smashed his fourth ODI fifty and his 97-run opening partnership with Devon Conway (38) set the tone.
After a sedate start -- 28 for no loss in 7 overs -- they switched gears with Conway smashing Chahar for four boundaries in an over, before Allen took the attack to rookie pacer Imran Malik.
