Player Tracker: New Zealand vs India ODI Series Review

After an unarguable thrashing in the first T20 game and a nail biter in the second, the World Champions’ tour of New Zealand didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. Even though there were some strong performances, India still had their backs against the wall. The unsavoury taste of the 2002-03 series was coming back like a piece of garlic stuck in between the teeth.


With the One Day Internationals and Test series still to fight for, India were looking to make amends, realizing that at no point of time was this to be a walk in the park. The batsmen had still failed to come to terms with the pitches and conditions and knew they were dealing with a tenacious opponent that was keen in exploiting the home advantage.


But as soon the ODIs began, fortunes began to swing in favour of India. Kiwi skipper, Daniel Vettori, had lost his first toss of the tour and from the word go, Virender Sehwag, who walked out alongside Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar, began pouring water over the opposition’s plans.


The weather came in to play spoil sport, soon cutting the first fifty over game to 38 overs a side. But after a second rain disruption New Zealand made 162 for nine chasing a revised target of 216 in 28 overs. The bad weather continued through the second match and although it was washed out, it was far from irrelevant. Sachin found his feet and form as he scored a brisk 61 before getting out while trying to up the tempo. This was only a prelude of what he was to dish out in the 3rd game- his first century in New Zealand, a dazzling one at that. The master blaster scored 163 in 137 balls and the country of New Zealand went from raining cats and dogs to raining sixes. We were hoping to see the world’s first double hundred in the 50 over format but an old injury began to act up and a struggling Tendulkar retired hurt. With the teams amassing a total 726 runs, the tie broke the world record for most sixes in a one day international. Kyle Mill put in a fantastic all round


Cutting the remaining two matches short as well, the gloomy conditions seemed a lot like the kiwi dressing room. India walked through the 4th match with some sublime performances and a clean sweep seemed inevitable. But the black caps did manage to salvage some pride in the last and final match that took place today. India’s performance on the day seemed shoddy in comparison to New Zealand’s who had a comprehensive 8-wicket consolation victory.


All in all, India was the better side and deserving winners of the trophy, their first series win in New Zealand for almost five decades. Kudos to the Indian squad.