New Zealand Seal ODI Series At 3-0, India Suffer Second Consecutive Overseas Drubbing!

Ross Taylor

Overseas woes drown India as New Zealand won the one-day international (ODI) cricket Series overpowering a hapless Team India in the 4^th ODI match by 7 wickets with 11 balls to spare in Hamilton today.  The Kiwis take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match Series reducing the last match to be played in Wellington on 31^st January to only an academic interest. Team India managed to do absolutely nothing so far in its Tour of New Zealand except for that inexplicable tie in the third ODI in Auckland on 25^th January. That match did not fit into the category of an epic encounter, because surprising lapses and worrisome attitudes somehow took the match to a tie. The Kiwis should have won the Series with ease then and there, and when India finally needed two runs off the last ball Ravindra Jadeja just did not seem to be interested in taking the second run. For India there was a record in Indian ODI cricketing history as their 6^th , 7^th and 8^th (Dhoni-Jadeja-Ashwin) batsmen scored a half century each. Today Dhoni completed his third consecutive half century and Jadeja his second. Unfortunately, Ashwin did not have a chance to bat. After a very poor and sluggish start India finally managed 278/5, virtually wasting five batsmen who could not come out to bat. With consistent centuries from the Kiwi batsmen in every match, today Ross Taylor played the match winning innings of 112 not out and was declared the deserving player of the match.  If that weird tie kept the Series still alive today’s match killed it all—India meekly surrendering the chance of fighting back and leveling the Series. 

Team India seemed to have lost all sanity. After continuing toss wins Dhoni today finally decided to bat first, but at the same time dropped their best attacking opener Shikhar Dhawan who showed some promise in the last encounter and also the best attacking middle-order batsmen Suresh Raina who could have proved his worth in the first positive gesture by his captain even after a series on non-effective scores. Besides, these two batsmen were part of the team that at least saved the last match. Dhoni made a positive decision, but robbed his team of getting benefited from that. His tactics were also questionable as he took off both his spinners at a crucial juncture and allowed New Zealand to plunder runs in gay abandon. Virat Kohli has been terrific in this Series, but he was never an opener. All customary positions of all Indian batsmen were disturbed by the captain’s whims and fancies. The Scorecard: 

In South Africa 2-0 defeat, in New Zealand 3-0 defeat so far. Imagine, a team that started its overseas venture with six consecutive ODI Series triumphs lost it all for all the obvious reasons which tormented the team over decades. The two-match Test Series starts on 6^thFebruary. Maybe with its five-day specialists Team India still has a chance which is corroborated by the fact that they nearly won the first Test against South Africa before surrendering.

New Zealand Lead 2-0 In ODI Series, India Lose No.1Rank!

New Zealand beat India by 15 runs on Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-interrupted second one day international (ODI) match in Hamilton today delivering one more professional performance in all areas of batting, fielding and bowling. India, by virtue of this fourth consecutive ODI defeat, lose the NO.1 ODI ranking that they enjoyed since January, 2013. Australia thunders back to No.1 position after they lost it in the beginning of 2012. 

There is not much to write home about this match. It followed almost the same pattern, spirit or the lack of it as far as India is concerned and the performances except, of course, for the several rain interruptions that reduced the match to a 42-over affair. Dhoni again won the toss, and again due to lack of faith in his batsmen or due to fear of the short and bouncing stuff decided to hand over the good batting opportunity to New Zealand, Again, Anderson, the blossoming all-rounder, was instrumental in plundering 100 runs in the last 8 overs. This time Williamson scored the highest individual knock of 77 runs with useful contributions from Guptil and Taylor. For India Kohli had to be the key again with the Indian highest of 78 runs with captain Dhoni managing a half century and other batsmen failing or getting on again. The Indian bowlers were lackluster, again. Shami took three wickets, but hardly controlling the free-style New Zealand scoring. 

Overseas woes continue for India. New Zealand lead the five-match ODI Series 2-0 now. India is facing the uphill task of fighting back. What they desperately need is regrouping in all areas of activity and giving it back as a team. At the moment that possibility looks bleak. Like the Arving Kejriwal flop show back home Team India’s flop show abroad continues. The Scorecard:

New Zealand Beat India In Napier ODI, Brilliant Virat Ton Goes In Vain!

Mitchell McClenaghan In Fury! 

After losing both the ODI and Test Series in South Africa Indian batsmen today in the first one-day-international (ODI) against New Zealand in Napier had a great chance to reverse their poor overseas cricket trend, but they failed miserably despite a brilliant hundred by Virat Kohli (123 in 111 balls) as New Zealand beat India by 24 runs. As is usual for Indian ovseseas cricket the Indian Tour of New Zealand started with a defeat. Again, it is more of a story of the Indian batsmen not able to negotiate short balls and bouncers with four of the top batsmen failing due to sheer pace. Even then, reduced to 129 for 4 in the 29th over chasing a daunting target of 293, Kohli and Dhoni (40 off 46 balls-the second highest individual score for India) built a fast-paced partnership bringing India within sight of victory, but a quick fall of three wickets sealed an exciting New Zealand victory. Possibly it is the same fear of the short stuff that made Indian captain MS Dhoni give New Zealand the first chance of batting on a good track after winning the toss. The contrast to Indian batting is more striking when we see that New Zealand tailenders CJ Anderson and L Ronchi put together 98 runs in just 58 balls between themselves taking New Zealand to an eventually winning total. CJ Anderson went on to take two crucial Indian wickets to prove his credentials as an emerging all-rounder. MJ McClenaghan took 4 wickets including a burst of three quick ones to take his team to a great victory.

Most of the Indian bowlers were expensive though Mohammed Shami put pressure on the hosts by taking the first two wickets pretty quick. In fact India managed to slow down New Zealand most of the times when the hosts threatened to run away with the match. However, no bowler could prevent the destructive Anderson-Ronchi duo hitting sixes and fours at will taking the score to 292/7 after fifty overs. The two Indian spinners Ashwin and Jadeja gave away more than hundred runs between themselves for just one scalp making you wonder why two spinners were actually selected for the match. The Scorecard:

New Zealand lead the five-match ODI Series 1-0 at the moment. It will take a huge effort from India to come up and fight back. Of course, there is ample time left for regrouping. After the loss MS Dhoni admitted it to be a batting failure and stressed on the need of having long partnership. Team India must also try capitalising on superlative efforts by players like Virat Kohli. It is extremely depressing that Kohli got the rare misfortune of scoring a brilliant century and his team losing which never happened in his last 12 of his 18 ODI hundreds.