In a one-sided encounter, New Zealand defeated India by five wickets to win the third and final ODI at the Bay Oval on Tuesday (February 11) to register a 3-0 series win. Colin de Grandhomme hit a quickfire 58 of just 28 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to help the Black Caps win the match comfortably. Henry Nicholls top scored for New Zealand with 80 runs while opener Guptill contributed 66 runs.
Earlier, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and invited India to bat first. India were down 62 for 3 in the 13th over after the dismissals of Mayank Agarwal (1), captain Virat Kohli (9) and Prithvi Shaw (40) but Rahul got a useful ally in in-form Shreyas Iyer (62) to take India to a competitive total.
Rahul, who hit nine fours and two sixes during his 113-ball innings, and Iyer stitched exactly 100 runs from 18.2 overs for the fourth wicket to revive the Indian innings. After the end of the promising innings of Iyer, Rahul shared another 107 runs for the fifth wicket with Manish Pandey (42). The Kiwis were off to a confident start in their chase with Martin Guptill (66) and Henry Nicholls (80) and putting on a 106-run stand. However, wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took three wickets to bring India back in the game. Colin de Grandhomme (58) and Tom Latham (32), though, took their side past the finish line with an unbeaten 80-run partnership.
Henry Nicholls was adjudged the Man of the Match for scoring 80 runs. "To make it 3-0 was what we wanted to do. To put in a good performance in a chase was good. (Batting with Guptill) The way he started put us in a good position in the run chase. It certainly helps me that he scores so quickly. The idea was to put them under pressure. I could just play second fiddle. We've scored well in the first three matches, and that's good to take into the Test matches," he said.
Skipper Kohli said that India has lost the series due to bad fielding and the lack of determination. "I think the first match, we were pretty much in the contest. All three games, the composure and the way we fielded wasn't good enough for international cricket. The way we came back was a positive for us. In the field, we weren't good enough at all. (On New Zealand) We played really well in the T20 series, here in the ODIs, a couple of new guys, good experience for them. They played with a lot more intensity after the T20 series. They deservedly won 3-0. I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said at the presentation ceremony.
