The third one-day cricket match was played at the Green Park, Kanpur. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat. On a good wicket, Kohli hit his 32nd one day century and in the process became the fastest to reach 9000 runs in this format of the game. This was no mean achievement. The Indians set New Zealand a total of 338 to win and the Kiwis began the Run chase under floodlights. They batted well but failed to reach the target and lost by 6 runs the New York Times reported.
Earlier tours
New Zealand has been touring india since 1956.
Despite some good performances, they have never won a series. One can recollect that only once under Graham Dowling in 1968, NZ came close to winning a series, but rain washed out the last test match and the series was drawn 1-1.
New Zealand came to India this time with a bunch of young players. Many of these players had experience of Indian conditions earlier as they had played in the Indian Premier League. This was a bonus and resulted in the team giving a good fight to India. In the final analysis, they put up a creditable performance and with a little bit of luck could have won the series.
Controversy
New Zealand started the tour opener at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with a stunning six-wicket win.
This win put the Indian team on the back foot. India came back in the next one day match at Pune and leveled the series. There was some allegation of the curator Salgaocar having doctored the pitch. This was revealed in a sting operation and the BCCI suspended Salgaocar. The pitch was inspected by the ICC referee and cleared for play.
Never the less a controversy was created.
Good fight
New Zealand put up a good fight in the last one day match. Despite some wayward bowling, they restricted India to a score of 337. This was a gettable score on this wicket and NZ had the batsmen who could overhaul this total. The Kiwis began the run chase under floodlights and looked to be in the driver's seat as a century stand for the third wicket with Willhelms took shape.
But his dismissal for 69, attempting an extravagant sweep was a dampener. The lower order batted well but the asking rate began to climb up and when the last ball was bowled the Kiwis were seven runs short of victory.The match has been covered by the Hindustan Times.
last word
If NZ had beaten India they would have become the number one side in OD rankings. They will now play three T-20 matches before going home. Many of the team has played a lot of T20 cricket in India in the IPL and it is on the cards that they have the potential to beat India. Focus now shifts to the shorter format of the game and Kohli and his boys will have to battle hard, to keep their victorious record intact at home.
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