Last Update: January 22, 2023, 7:08 pm
Rohit Sharma was in excellent form during the second ODI. (AP Photo)
It was a clinical show from India in Raipur as they clinched the series with one game to spare
2nd ODI between India And New Zealand turned out to be a one-sided affair with the hosts winning by eight wickets and taking a 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Raipur. New Zealand gave a fine account of themselves in the series opener, where they chased down nearly 350 after a memorable rescue act from Michael Bracewell, but there was no such resurgence on Saturday, with the Indian pacer slipping through the batting order .
Mohammed Shami was at the forefront of the carnage as India reduced New Zealand to 15/5 after opting to bowl first. Some brief recoveries allowed the tourists to touch the three-figure total, but they could only pull themselves up to 108 before being bowled out in 34.3 overs.
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The target was never going to challenge India unless they faced an equal batting line-up. India skipper Rohit Sharma ensured that his team got off to a solid start and brought up an entertaining half-century off just 47 balls.
Rohit hit seven fours and two sixes in his 50-ball 51 and added 72 runs with youngster Shubman Gill, who hit the winning four while remaining unbeaten on 40.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra was impressed with Rohit’s way of scoring runs and predicted that if the target was in the region of 250-300, the opener would surely have scored a hundred.
“Rohit Sharma was aggressive,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
He further added, “And the way he was batting, if India were chasing 250-300, he would have definitely scored a hundred.”
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While it was an enjoyable performance for Rohit, it was another disappointing performance for Virat Kohli as he started off aggressively hitting two boundaries before being stumped by Mitchell Santner, who had also contributed in the series opener.
Kohli, who had scored three centuries in his last four ODI innings, was clean bowled for 8 in Hyderabad as India made 349/8.
Chopra said that considering Kohli’s form, some failures are acceptable and also thinks that the batting superstar can score a hundred in the third ODI.
“Interesting one (Kohli’s failure). Two consecutive failures, quite unusual. Mitchell Santner supported him both times. Maybe Kohli’s century is loading up in the next game? He has already scored 46 centuries, he is a brilliant batsman. An odd failure is absolutely acceptable and permissible,” said Chopra.
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