India vs New Zealand, 3rd ODI Highlights: Rohit, Shubman tons blow away New Zealand as India grab top spot in ODI rankings with 3-0 sweep | Cricket News



NEW DELHI: opening of India Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma were on the hunt for leather as their jaw-dropping centuries propelled India to a 90-point victory over New Zealand in the third and final ODI at Indore. With the clinical victory, India swept the series 3-0 and are now the highest ranked ODI team.
Rohit and Shubman’s carnage against an inexperienced Black Caps bowling attack in dead rubber took India to a towering 385 for 9 on a batting paradise at Holkar Cricket Stadium. In response, Devon Conway (138) slammed a century into it, but it wasn’t quite enough as the visitors folded for 295 in the 42nd. Batters on both sides lit up dead rubber as a total of 680 runs were scored.
Rohit (101 from 85 balls) scored his first ODI cent in three years – his last came in January 2020 – while Gill (112 from 78) continued his dominance with another sublime ton – his fourth in ODI – as that duo thrilled fans after being asked to strike first.
After two failures, the New Zealand top offered a much better show but Shardul Thakur (3/45) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/62) struck steadily, never allowing the Kiwis to take control of the chase.
It was India’s second straight sweep, having beaten Sri Lanka last week. With victory in the final clash, India dethroned top-tier England, who had won the No.1 ranking just three days ago after New Zealand’s loss to India in the second. ODI. England are now second behind India, followed by Australia in third place. The 3-0 series loss dropped New Zealand to fourth in the standings.
After Hardik Pandya (1/37) got rid of Finn Allen (0) in the very first end of the chase, Conway shared 106 points with Henry Nicholls and 78 points with Daryl Mitchell (24).
In the absence of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, India’s bowlers initially struggled, losing points as Conway swung the ball around the park.
Shardul, however, managed to turn things around by taking consecutive wickets from Mitchell and Tom Latham (0) in the 26th.
In his next over, Thakur sent Glenn Phillips (5) packing with a cross delivery.
Umran Malik (1/52) then got Conway as the Centurion fired awkwardly with Rohit doing the rest at midwicket as the game seemed to slip out of New Zealand’s grasp.
The spin duo of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/43) then cleaned up the cue.
Earlier, Rohit and Gill put up a belligerent opening stand of 212 points, sharing 22 fours and 11 sixes between them.
Rahul Dravid joked on the eve of the game that the bowlers don’t want to bowl as soon as they land in Indore due to batting friendly conditions. The big hitter had a point, and the New Zealanders rolling on their arms for the first 25 overs would have shared Dravid’s sentiment.
At one point, every ball hit by Rohit and Gill’s bat was flying either toward the boundary or over it.
Gill hit four fours and a six to plunder 22 carries against Lockie Ferguson in the eighth, symbolizing the kind of form the 23-year-old has been in recently.
The youngster didn’t even have to time the ball to run to the limit. After three fours, he kicked the short ball for a top six.
With the fast outfield and flat wicket, the rather inexperienced New Zealand bowling unit had no answer to the carnage of the Indian openers.
The 26th saw Rohit and Gill get their centuries. Rohit pulled away to the deep square to reach his mark and, three balls later, Gill hit the triple-digit mark, his third in four innings.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham used up to six bowlers and it was his sixth option – spinner Michael Bracewell – who provided the tourists with their first breakthrough.
Trying to knock one out of the park, Rohit missed the ball as it lay low and spun around to finally hit the stumps. His wicket was greeted with a bang by the partisan crowd, welcoming Virat Kohli (36).
A missed shot in the next over spelled the end of Gill’s innings as New Zealand struck twice in a row.
Ishan Kishan (17) didn’t look too comfortable and took nine balls to open his account. A yes-no with Kohli, who had sprinted midway, marked the end of the wicket-keeper batter’s stay in the middle.
New Zealand managed to knock down the limits and the six and, looking to play a big shot, Kohli couldn’t beat Finn Allen at the halfway point.
Firmly on course for a score over 400, India suffered a familiar mid-order hitting meltdown, before Hardik Pandya (54 from 38 balls) delivered the final knockout blow.
(With PTI entries)



malek

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