India wrap Kiwi gift in Raipur – The Indian Express

Those in the north stand at the Shahid Veer Narayan Singh Stadium were yet to take their seats when Mohammed Shami knocked out Finn Allen to pick India’s first wicket. A first international dismissal at India’s 50th ODI venue. The next nine followed inside two hours and thirty five minutes as Indian bowlers ran through the New Zealand batting to inspire an eight wicket win in the second ODI on Saturday.
Following the flip of the coin and a couple seconds of brainfade, India captain Rohit Sharma informed on his decision to bowl first. A close contest in Hyderabad on Wednesday meant the two teams fielded unchanged lineups.
.@ShubmanGill finishes things off in style! #TeamIndia complete a comprehensive 8️⃣-wicket victory in Raipur and clinch the #INDvNZ ODI series 2️⃣-0️⃣ with more game to go ??
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tdhWDoSwrZ @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/QXY20LWlyw
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2023
This was no 300 plus run thriller though. India’s pace battery ensured the same as the visitors were left four wickets down for just 15 runs at the end of the first powerplay and then another three deliveries later. The Black Caps eventually whimpered out for 108 off 34.3 overs of batting. India chased it down without much fuss as Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill saw the game through. The latter danced down the track to wrap up the win with a four.
Shami-Siraj mehfil
0,3,2,1,2,1,1,0. That’s the sequence of runs India’s new ball bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj went for in their opening spell. 10 overall. Two of them coming off wides. The duo found early movement and utilized angles to their advantage.
Siraj for instance, came over the wicket and seamed one away on good length to get rid of left handed Henry Nicholls. While the Hyderabad pacer had been the pick of Indian bowlers in his hometown with a 4-fer, it was Shami who led the early assault in Raipur.
For his impactful 3️⃣-wicket haul in the first innings, @MdShami11 bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia won the second #INDvNZ ODI by eight wickets ??
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tdhWDoSwrZ @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/Nxb3Q0dQE5
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2023
The 32-year-old got one in to Finn Allen in the first over before it took a deflection off his pads to clip the top of off stump. Daryl Mitchell, who walked down the track to Shami, was done by just the faintest of movements as he front edged the ball back to its sender. His third came in his second spell. Following up on his Hyderabad heroics, Michael Bracewell went resolute in search of boundaries and found them as he went down the track and whipped Shami for consecutive boundaries. The latter had the last laugh off the next as he banged one in short and close to the southpaw, taking an edge for Kishan to collect behind.
Short stands that stood
With half of the team in the hut, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell tried to find some semblance in the middle. The duo stitched together a 39-run stand for the sixth wicket. Early wickets and an early defeat looming had changed the sentiment around the ground, with the home fans getting behind the New Zealand batters whenever they found the boundary rope or cleared it. Hoping against an early finish to their city’s international cricket debut but wouldn’t make much difference. Shami removed Bracewell in his sixth over.
Mitchell Santner then combined with Phillips for New Zealand’s biggest partnership of the game, a mere 47 runs that consisted of 38 percent of the Black Caps’ boundaries.
But that was that as the remaining four wickets fell inside five runs and 26 deliveries, leaving India with a total of 109 runs to chase.
Ro-hits
109 off 300 deliveries sure looked like an ask India could take their time with. Skipper Rohit Sharma wouldn’t have it though. Keeping up with India’s recent quickfire opening stands, Rohit combined alongside Gill to give New Zealand a powerplay check as India notched 52 off the first 10 overs.
With the game being played on the centre wicket and big boundaries on either side, the duo manipulated the field restrictions to their favor, finding the ropes seven times and clearing them twice in the initial 10 overs.
Captain @ImRo45 provided the perfect start to the chase with a fifty and was #TeamIndia‘s ? performer from the second innings ??
A look at his batting summary ✅ #INDvNZ
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tdhWDoSwrZ @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/5GYyjhV3tp
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2023
Rohit went on to grab his second ODI fifty this year, getting to it off 47 deliveries. A knock that included seven fours and two maximums signatured with his pull shots. With good bounce on offer, the 35-year-old even went after the good-length deliveries, stooping low to pull. Which is why the one that kept obnoxiously low marked the end of his innings as Henry Shipley caught him plumb.
The main disappointment came from Virat Kohli, who yet again fell to a left-arm spinner. Last time around, he had pressed back to a relatively full delivery, locking himself into trouble. This time around, off Santner, he went for an off drive but was beaten in the air. It landed, gripped, spun past the drive for a quick stumping even as Kohli was awkwardly trying to balance himself. Ahead of the Test series against Australia, Kohli’s recent dismissals to spin in Bangladesh and now back home, don’t augur well. But that’s a worry for another day; in the here and now, the Indian ODI wagon is marching on.
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Rahul PandeyRahul is senior sub-editor at the sports desk for indianexpress.com. Y… read more

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