All-round India clinch series win over NZ

India defeated New Zealand in a thrilling finish in the final ODI in Kanpur by 6 runs to win the series 2-1. Both teams now head to Delhi for the upcoming T20I series.

Having lost the toss, India were asked to bat first on a good Kanpur pitch. India lost Shikhar Dhawan early which was a good start for the Kiwis.

But all that was soon forgotten as captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma batted brilliantly to tackle the Kiwi bowlers.

Both of them put together a mammoth partnership of 230 runs before Rohit (147) gave his wicket away.

At one stage it looked like India were going to give NZ a target close to 400. But Kiwi pacers pulled it back by taking some quick wickets. Soon Kohli (113) also got out and it must have at least made a difference of 20-30 runs to India’s score.

Mitch Santner (58/2) was the pick of the NZ bowlers in a match which rest of the bowlers were taken for plenty. Specially Trent Boult who went for 81 runs in his quota of ten overs.

Set a target of 338 NZ had a flying start as Colin Munro (75) hit boundaries frequently to pressurize the Indian bowlers.

Munro and Williamson (64) kept New Zealand in the game with a 109 run partnership before both got out to Yuzvendra Chahal (47/2) who was brilliant on the night.

Almost every Indian bowler took a pounding except Jasprit Bumrah (47/3), who was the reason India won the game by the slimmest of margins.

Tom Latham (65) was again brilliant and showed that he thrives in the Indian conditions. But none of the other Kiwi batsmen supported him.

Bhuvneshwar who was taken for plenty made a slight comeback and it proved to be crucial for India.

At the end India proved to be too much to handle for the Black Caps. New Zealand go empty handed once again from India in terms of the ODI series.

Rohit Sharma was adjudged Man of the Match and Kohli the Man of the series.