Auckland: Ravindra Jadeja very nearly pulled off a sensational victory with some lusty hits but could not take India home in the last over as the third ODI against New Zealand ended in a nail-biting tie to keep the visitors afloat in the five-match series here on Saturday.
Chasing New Zealand’s stiff target of 315, largely built around opener Martin Guptill’s 111, India came back from the dead to tie the game, riding on Ravichandran Ashwin’s 65 and Jadeja’s 45-ball unbeaten 66 to save themselves the blushes of another overseas ODI series defeat.
In the thrilling dying moments of the game, India needed 18 off Corey Anderson’s last over for a victory but Jadeja and last man Varun Aaron could only get 17 to tie the game on a good batting track at Eden Park.
The visitors needed just two runs off the last ball but Jadeja could manage just a single. Although India could not win the game, they can still draw the five-match series by winning the remaining two matches in Hamilton (Jan 28) and Wellington (Jan 31).
The tie also ensured that India remained in the number one position in the ICC ODI rankings, having regained it on Friday following Australia’s defeat to England in the fourth one-dayer of their ongoing series.
Put into bat for the third time in a row, New Zealand piled up 314 with Guptill scoring his fifth ODI century and useful contributions from Kane Williamson (65) and Luke Ronchi (38).
The score could have been much bigger had there not been not a minor collapse towards the end of the innings which pegged the Kiwis back to some extent.
The Indians got off to a fairly good start but Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Rohit Sharma (39) again squandered the start to let the team down badly.
The quick dismissals of the in-form Virat Kohli (6) and Ajinkya Rahane (3) served as a huge jolt for the visitors, who suddenly slumped to 79 for four from 64 for no loss.
Captain Dhoni (50) and Suresh Raina (31) stitched 67 runs for the fifth wicket to keep India in the hunt. Ashwin and Jadeja than put on 85 runs for the seventh wicket to raise hopes of a stunning victory.
“I think we batted well,” Dhoni said after the contest. “But if we are to pick situations where we could have closed the game quite comprehensively, those were the situations we did not grab. It is a bit disappointing, but overall a good result as it keeps us alive in the series.” (PTI)
SCORECARD
New Zealand:
M Guptill c Rahane b Jadeja 111
J Ryder b Kumar 20
K Williamson b Shami 65
C Anderson b Ashwin 8
R Taylor run out 17
B McCullum c Ashwin b Aaron 0
L Ronchi c Rahane b Jadeja 38
N McCullum run out 1
T Southee run out 27
M McCl’han c Jadeja b Shami 3
H Bennett not out 3
Extras: (lb-10, w-11) 21
Total: (all out; 50 overs) 314
FOW: 1-36, 2-189, 3-198, 4-224, 5-230, 6-270, 7-280, 8-280, 9-288
Bowling: Kumar 9-0-48-1, Shami 10-0-84-2, Aaron 7-0-52-1, Jadeja 10-0-47-2, Ashwin 10-0-47-1, Raina 4-0-26-0
India:
R Sharma c Bennett b And’son 39
S Dhawan c Guptill b And’son 28
V Kohli c Ronchi b Bennett 6
A Rahane c Ronchi b Anderson 3
S Raina c Ronchi b Southee 31
MS Dhoni c Southee b And’son 50
R A’win c Guptill b N McC’lum 65
R Jadeja not out 66
B Kumar c N McC’lum b Ben’tt 4
M Shami c Will’son b And’son 2
V Aaron not out 2
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-14) 18
Total: (9 wkts; 50 overs) 314
FOW: 1-64, 2-72, 3-74, 4-79, 5-146, 6-184, 7-269, 8-275, 9-286
Bowling: Southee 10-0-74-1, McClenaghan 10-0-76-0, Bennett 10-2-41-2, Anderson 10-1-63-5, Williamson 2-0-17-0, McCullum 8-0-39-1