New Zealand imploded from a position of dominance at 153/2 to 199/8, before some stiff lower-order resistance led them to 285 against India in the third One-Day International in Mohali on Sunday. New Zealand's top four batsmen, especially Tom Latham (61), had provided the visitors a great platform for a big total, but an incredible collapse after the halfway point of the innings led to them falling over like nine pins – until the eighth wicket fell.
It was not the first time during this tour that New Zealand's batsmen had collapsed from a high pedestal thanks to Indian spinners. However, it wasn't the intelligence and variations of Ravichandran Ashwin and the unerring accuracy of Ravindra Jadeja that got them, but the part-time spin of Kedar Jadhav and the leg-breaks of India's third-choice spinner.
It wasn't that Jadhav had really earned his wickets. One of them was off a juicy full toss, which Corey Anderson (6) slapped straight to mid-off. His other two scalps – Kane Williamson (22) and Latham – were also guilty of poor shot selection. The Kiwi batsmen had no business giving their wickets to someone who has just four wickets combined in First-Class and List A cricket. However, Jadhav, who also keeps wickets, now has taken six in three ODIs against New Zealand.
Amit Mishra pitched in with two wickets as well, both of which were stumpings carried out by the lightning-quick MS Dhoni. The Indian wicketkeeper also crossed 150 stumpings in international cricket. Umesh Yadav was also at his aggressive and fast best, picking up three wickets for himself, but was hit for a few in his final couple of overs. At 199/8 in the 38th over, it did not look like New Zealand would reach 250 for the third successive time in this series.
However, some lower-order stubbornness from Jimmy Neesham (57) and Matt Henry (39 not out) took the visitors to a very competitive 285. The duo shared an 82-run stand and went for their shots in the last five overs of the match, before Neesham was dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings. Considering India failed to chase 243 in Delhi on a similar track – this one is slightly better to bat on – New Zealand will fancy their chances.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 285 in 49.4 overs (Tom Latham 61, Jimmy Neesham 57; Kedar Jadhav 3/29, Amit Mishra 2/46, Umesh Yadav 3/75) vs India.
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