IND vs NZ | India hold nerves to ace 300-run chase after Jamieson four-fer threatened to outdo Kohli's 93

Gantavya Adukia

ByGantavya Adukia,SportsCafe Editor

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India chased down 300 with four wickets and an over to spare in Vadodara on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the three match ODI series against New Zealand. Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, and Daryl Mitchell scored half-centuries before Virat Kohli anchored the hunt with a trademark 93 to set up the win.

‌Asked to bat first, New Zealand openers Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway got off to a cautious start with Mohammed Siraj and Harshit Rana making the new ball talk. The Vadodara deck showed early signs of variable bounce to make life even tougher for the Kiwi duo but once the sheen wore off the Kookaburra, the scales tilted. The Kiwi duo's rhythm meant 17 runs in the first five overs were followed by 32 off the next five to see off the powerplay at 49/0, and the tempo only quickened thereafter. Both Conway and Nicholls brought up their half-centuries in successive deliveries in the 20th over, off 60 deliveries each, as the partnership went past the century mark. However, just when Nicholls was looking to press matters with back-to-back fours off Rana, the right-arm quick deceived him with a slower ball to have him nick behind for 62. Rana returned in his next over to clean Conway with a beautiful indecker, and the Men in Blue suddenly seized complete momentum. Will Young edged a Siraj bumper to depart cheaply shortly, Kuldeep Yadav dispatched Glenn Phillips with a googly, and Prasidh Krishna capped off the collapse by sounding Mitchell Hay the death rattle to reduce the Kiwis to 198/5. Nevertheless, Daryl Mitchell kept himself busy at one end by rotating strike with the occassional boundary, soon bringing up a run-a-ball half-century, and had nearly brought proceedigns back on track by sharing a 39-run stand with Michael Bracewell when a brilliant bit of fielding from Shreyas Iyer ran out the later with seven overs to go and the score 237/6. Siraj cleaned up Foulkes three balls later to further place the onus on Mitchell, but the Kiwi responded with aplomb. Debutant Kristian Clarke and Mitchell traded a couple quick boundaries to bring back some tempo, before the later took Krishna for 14 in three balls until being pinned LBW for a 71-ball 84. A 14-run final over for the Kiwis meant they posted 300/8 on the board, leaving India a run-a-ball chase to execute.

Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma imitated their counterparts with an alert start to their chase, racking up just 15 runs in the first five overs including a maiden. However, it was only a matter of time before Rohit let loose by slamming a Kyle Jamieson bumper into the stands before sending another to the boundary, but the Kiwi quick had the final laugh when another attempt at it ended up in the hands of mid-off. Nevertheless, the Men in Blue found themselves decently placed at 48/1 at the end of the powerplay, even with Gill looking rusty. Virat Kohli channelled the electricity his walk out to the middle had brought to the ground to strike two boundaries off Clarke, prompting Gill to break the shackles himself and club young leggie Adithya Ashok for his first maximum of the day. The partnership effortlessly grew thereon as Kohli brought up a 44-ball half-century, a few deliveries before Gill reached the mark in 66 deliveries, and made sure to stay afloat with the required rate despite the visitors engineering a boundary drought. Gill broke the 52-ball streak in the 26th over with a sweetly timed shot off Phillips but the joy was short-lived as he fell trying to do the same to Ashok the very next over, thus ending the 118-run stand. At this stage, India needed 141 in 23 overs at slightly over run-a-ball, which came hirting down when Shreyas Iyer announced himself to the crease by taking Ashok for a maximum and two boundaries in the 31st over. Kohli matched his partner's tempo with a couple big hits of his own, and an 85th international ton seemed destined for the talisman when he struck Jamieson straight to mid-off to depart for a 91-ball 93. What seemed like a minor hiccup for India quickly devolved into a major plot twist when Ravindra Jadeja chipped out five deliveries later, a couple overs before Jamieson pegged back Iyer's off-stump with an indecker to send him packing for 49. With Washington Sundar injured, Rana walked out to join the freshly arrived KL Rahul at the crease with 59 needed in 53 balls, and the tourists capitalized to string together a few tight overs. Rana's attempt to break free saw him hit one straight down Mitchell's throat, only for him to drop the simplest of sitters, thus allowing Rana to break free the pressure with a six off Clarke. Rana added another four in Clarke's next over before departing next ball for a 23-ball 29 to leave India needing 22 in as many balls, with Rahul and Sundar the last two batters at the crease. The duo took the game deep, before the former showed his experience to finish the game with two fours and a six in the penultimate over and end unbeaten on 29.

Missed a well-deserved ton

IND Win!

Feeling sad!

Haha!

Emotional!

Misses century!

On top!

Hear break!

Yeah!

Need 18!

Yes!

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