Indore, Jan 24: Rohit Sharma scored his first ODI hundred in three years while Shubman Gill continued his domination with another sublime ton as India completed a clean sweep with a 90-run win over New Zealand in the third match here on Tuesday.
Batters from both sides lit up the dead rubber as 680 runs were scored at the Holkar Stadium.
Rohit got to the three-figure mark for the first time since January 2020 while Gill scored his fourth ODI hundred to take India to 385.
Following twin failures, the New Zealand top-order put up a much better show. Devon Conway stitched crucial partnerships but Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav regularly struck to bowl out the Black Caps for 295 in 41.2 overs.
It was India’s second consecutive clean sweep, having beaten Sri Lanka last week. After Hardik Pandya (1/37) got rid of Finn Allen (0), Conway shared 106 runs with Henry Nicholls and 78 runs with Daryl Mitchell (24).
In the absence of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, the Indian bowlers struggled initially, leaking runs as Conway tonked the ball all around the park.
Shardul, however, managed to turn the game, as he took back-to-back wickets of Mitchell and Tom Latham (0) in the 26th over.
In his next over, Thakur sent Glenn Phillips (5) packing with a cross-seamed delivery.
Umran Malik (1/52) then got Conway as the centurion pulled awkwardly with Rohit doing the rest at midwicket as the match seemed to slip out of New Zealand’s grasp.
The spin duo of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/43) then cleaned up the tail.
Earlier, Rohit and Gill put up a 212-run opening stand, sharing 22 fours and 11 sixes between them.
Rahul Dravid joked on the eve of the match that bowlers don’t want to bowl as soon as they land in Indore because of the batter-friendly conditions. The batting great had a point, and the New Zealanders rolling over their arms during the first 25 overs would have shared Dravid’s sentiment.
With the outfield quick and the wicket flat, the rather inexperienced New Zealand bowling unit had no answers to the Indian openers’ carnage.
Firmly on course for a 400-plus score, India endured a familiar middle-order batting collapse, before Hardik (54 off 38 balls) provided the final flourish. (PTI)
