India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with figures of 3-45 off his 10 overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets, while Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik both made half-centuries as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in Pune to to level the three-match series at 1-1.
Choosing to bat first, New Zealand got off to a horrible start as opener Martin Guptill was caught behind off the bowling of Kumar for 11 in the third over of the match.
Captain Kane Williamson only mustered three runs before being given out lbw off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah.
Colin Munro and Ross Taylor failed to have much of an impact as well as they were dismissed by Kumar and Hardik Pandya for 10 and 21 respectively.
With New Zealand struggling at 58/4, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls came to the rescue with a 60-run partnership before Latham was clean bowled by Axar Patel for 38.
Nicholls went on to score 42 before he was cleaned up by Kumar.
Colin de Grandhomme struck a 40-ball 41 to keep New Zealand on track for a decent score, while Mitchell Santner made 29 and Tim Southee finished unbeaten on 25.
Thanks to their efforts, the Black Caps concluded their innings on 230/9.
Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal snapped up two wickets apiece. As for Pandya and Patel, they chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 231 to win, India lost Rohit Sharma in the fifth over as he was caught by Colin Munro at short midwicket off the bowling of Southee for seven runs.
Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli made up for the loss of Rohit with a 57-run partnership before Kohli was caught behind off the bowling of De Grandhomme for 29.
Dhawan and Karthik kept the runs flowing with a 66-run stand, during which Dhawan brought up his fifty, before he was caught by Taylor at extra cover off the bowling of Adam Milne.
Shikhar Dhawan scored his 22nd ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Dhawan’s excellent knock of 68 came off 84 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.
India continued to move closer towards their target as Karthik and Pandya put together a 57-run partnership before Pandya was removed by Santner for 30.
Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni mopped up the remaining runs to lead India to victory with four overs to spare.
Karthik finished on 64 off 92 balls, which included four boundaries, while Dhoni remained undefeated on 18 off 21 deliveries, which included three boundaries.
Dinesh Karthik struck his ninth half-century in ODI cricket
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Southee, Milne, Santner and De Grandhomme claimed one wicket each.
Williamson was disappointed to have lost, and said: “One of those surfaces where if you get a good score on the board and squeeze, the bowlers would have made life difficult. We weren’t good enough at the top, India’s opening bowlers did very well, hit the mark, the length on that surface. There’s a lesson there for us. And we know we have to play a lot better to beat these guys.
“The surface wasn’t easy to play fluently and Colin came out and went at a run-a-ball. We came here with high hopes, we put up a much better performance in Mumbai and we need to be better again in Kanpur.”
Kohli was thrilled to have levelled the series at 1-1, and said: “Pretty good game for us today. Exactly what we spoke at toss time. Pitch would be slow in the evening, better to bat at night. Great to see Bummrah and Bhuvi, they are our top two bowlers, they know they will start more often than not, so they can create plans. And today with the wicket being slow, it was great to see them getting batsmen out in conventional ways, not ugly wickets.
“Shikhar has been playing very well, one odd game he’s faltered, but he’s hitting the ball really well and he’s getting good runs at the top. Dinesh as well, getting crucial runs for himself and for the team. We look forward to any challenge on us. We spoke about needing to bounce back, and we’ve done that.”
Kumar was named Man of the Match, and said: “That’s my nature, I’m calm, and however you practice you replicate that. I never try to do anything different. It’s the way I bowl, with the new ball, I swing it. It wasn’t happening today, so I just tried to bowl in good areas, got two wickets and that gave me confidence.
“Things get easier for you when you’re confident. There’s no easy route to success, but with confidence, you can do those good things better. I’m not muscular, but thanks to the trainer, introducing player-specific training, I feel much confident and stronger when it comes to fitness.”