New Zealand captain Kane Williamson scored his eighth One-Day International century as the visitors put up 242/9 against India in Delhi on Thursday in the second of the five-match series. Williamson's form was always going to be key to New Zealand's batting success on this tour and it was thus apt that he scored his team's first hundred of the trip. Unfortunately for Williamson, none of his other teammates were interested in staying in the middle with him, as the Kiwis were stifled by India after being asked to bat.
Earlier, India won their fifth consecutive toss of the tour, as MS Dhoni asked New Zealand to take first guard on a sluggish Feroz Shah Kotla surface. Anything less than 280 looked inadequate and given New Zealand's batting so far in this series, they needed some big partnerships.
The innings didn't start well as Umesh Yadav castled Martin Guptill with an unplayable out-swinger on the second ball of the day. However, Tom Latham and Williamson did the recovery work, taking the team to 90/1 in 16 overs when the first drinks break was called.
Kedar Jadhav got the breakthrough for India soon enough, trapping Latham in front with a quick and full delivery. And New Zealand never really recovered following the end of that 120-run partnership, as Williamson was left stranded in the middle. The visitors eventually collapsed from 204/3 to 237/9.
The lack of a genuine finisher in the middle-lower order, someone who can anchor the innings through such crises, was evident. Unfortunately for New Zealand, Williamson cannot bat at Nos 1-11.
India, on their part, bowled well on the slow surface. Jasprit Bumrah was especially troublesome, deceiving the visitors with his change of pace, line and length. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra made good use of the turn in the surface, scalping the important wickets of Williamson, Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson. But for an unlikely successive collapse in this match, India should easily take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Brief score:
New Zealand 242/9 in 50 overs (Kane Williamson 118, Tom Latham 46; Jasprit Bumrah 3/35, Amit Mishra 3/60) vs India.
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