Indian captain Shubman Gill did not hide his disappointment after India lost the third ODI against New Zealand in Indore on Sunday. The Men in Blue went down by 41 runs. The defeat also meant New Zealand won the series 2-1. It was their first-ever bilateral ODI series win on Indian soil.
India failed to chase a target of 338 despite a brilliant century from Virat Kohli. The loss ended India’s strong record at home. Gill said the team did not meet expectations and needs to improve quickly with the T20 World Cup close.
“After the first match, coming here 1-1, the way we played – a bit disappointed. Lot of areas that need some improvement. There are areas we need to look back, reflect and do better. (On the positives) The way Virat bhai is batting, that’s definitely a plus always. The way Harshit has batted in this series, batting at No. 8, it’s not easy, but the way he stepped up and the way our fast bowlers have bowled in this series has been pretty good. Keeping the World Cup in mind and where it’s going to be,, we want to give him (Nitish Kumar Reddy) opportunities and we want to give him enough overs when he’s out there and just see what kind of combinations work for us and what kind of deliveries work for him as well,” Gill said at the post-match interview.
Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips Power New Zealand
Batting first after India chose to field, New Zealand recovered well from early trouble. They lost two wickets in the first two overs. Daryl Mitchell led the fightback with a superb 137. Glenn Phillips played a fearless knock of 106. The pair added 219 runs for the fourth wicket. New Zealand finished with 337/8.
India’s chase started badly. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were dismissed early. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul followed soon after. Virat Kohli stood firm and scored 124 off 108 balls. Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a fifty. Harshit Rana also chipped in. However, Zak Foulkes and Kristian Clarke took key wickets. Kohli’s dismissal in the 46th over sealed India’s fate. India were bowled out for 296. Daryl Mitchell won both Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards.
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