India vs New Zealand: Kiwis produce ‘record chase’ to end Rohit Sharma’s 12-match winning streak as captain

Having dominated the first three matches of the 5-match series against New Zealand, Team India came to Hamilton hoping to keep the same momentum under the leadership of stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma. In Virat Kohli’s absence, however, the task turned out to be a little too big for the Men in Blue who suffered their worst defeat in terms of the number of balls left as the hosts went on to create a huge record. The defeat also ended Rohit Sharma’s 12-match winning streak as captain.

Kiwi speedster Trent Boult wreaked havoc with the ball, bagging 5 wickets for 21 runs after being made to bowl 10 overs on the trot. He bagged the scalps of top three – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill – before removing Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya in the middle order. Colin de Grandhomme took 3 wickets as the Men in Blue were bundled on just 92 runs – there worst in New Zealand in the 52-year-old history.

Martin Guptill began the chase on a flying note – scoring 6,4,4 in the first three balls before being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar – while Kane Williamson was the only other batsman to be dismissed as the hosts reached the target in 14.4 overs.

The chase was also completed in record time as the Kiwis overhauled India’s total with 212 balls to spare. The previous best against India was held by Sri Lanka (209 in Dambulla) in 2010. Here’s how the overall list goes:

Winning with most balls to spare in an ODI clash against India:

212 by New Zealand in Hamilton, 2019

209 by Sri Lanka in Dambulla, 2010

181 by Sri Lanka in Hambantota, 2012

176 by Sri Lanka in Dharamsala, 2017

174 by Australia in Sydney, 1981

Skipper Rohit branded the team’s performance as the worst in a long time but assured that the boys would be back to the drawing board and correct the mistakes they had made in Hamilton.

“One of our worst performances with the bat in a long, long time. Something we didn’t expect. You got to give credit to the New Zealand bowlers. It was a magnificent effort. Something to learn for us. At times, you need to absorb pressure. We need to blame ourselves for it,” said the 31-year-old in the post-match presentation. The 5th and final ODI between India and New Zealand will be played on Sunday, February 03 in Wellington.