Kanpur: India came up trumps in a battle of nerves against a gutsy New Zealand to win the all-important third ODI by six runs and clinch their seventh successive bilateral series by 2-1 margin, here on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma (147 off 138) and Virat Kohli (113 0ff 106) conjured up classy hundreds to fire India to a record 337 for six after being put into bat.
The target was imposing but New Zealand fought gamely through Colin Munro (75 off 62), Kane Williamson (64 off 84) and Tom Latham (65 off 52) before being restricted to 331 for 7 in the wake of some fine death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah.
For the better part of the match, Indian bowlers dished out an ordinary bowling performance but bounced back when it mattered the most – in the final three overs.
Required to defend 15 runs in the final over, ‘King of Death’ Bumrah (3/47 in 10 overs) delivered yet again and conceded only eight runs in the 50th over. More importantly, he bowled an astounding 32 dot balls in his 10-over spell.
It seemed it was game on with the flying start provided left-hand opener Munro. He set the tone for the daunting task on the very first ball he face, flicking Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a monstrous six over midwicket.
Three more fours including the one from overthrow was to follow in the first over of the innings that went for 19 runs. The in-form Kumar had an off day as he leaked 92 runs from his 10 overs.
While his opening partner Martin Guptill (10) fell cheaply again, Munro and Kane Williamson (64) kept the visitors very much in the hunt with an 109-stand off 105 balls.
The two had taken New Zealand to 152 for one in 24 overs before under pressure India bounced back in the match with Yuzvendra Chahal removing the set batsmen. Their fall stopped the run flow and the required run rate per over went beyond eight, leaving the heroes of Mumbai Ross Taylor and Latham a lot to do.
They batted well, completing a 79-run partnership off 69 balls with their team needing 91 off the last 10 overs.
Latham carried on and played flawless to take his team on the brink of victory alongside Henry Nicholls before nerves got the better of them during the business end of the innings.
Earlier, Sharma and Kohli, who became the first ever pairing to complete four double hundred partnerships in ODIs, were simply unstoppable against a New Zealand bowling attack that looked pretty ordinary on the day.
