India vs New Zealand 2017, 3rd ODI: Rohit, Virat And Bumrah Took India To A Record Win

India vs New Zealand 2017, 3rd ODI concluded one of the most entertaining series of the year as the hosts lifted the trophy with a clinical last-minute finish after winning the match by 6 runs. That said, the Kiwis fought till the very end, smashing boundaries at their will and at times, it seemed like we were in for a record-breaking chase in India, however, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar (10-92-1) and Jasprit Bumrah’s (10-47-3) exceptional death bowling that took India home.

After winning the toss, New Zealand opted to ball first on the plain surface, a decision which might have been taken in consideration of the dew factor at Green Park, Kanpur. Knowing the same, Virat Kohli & Co. had to register a 330+ total in order to try and defend in the second innings.

However, when Shikhar Dhawan (14) gave away his wicket as early as in the 7th over off Tim Southee (10-66-2), it was again a hint of the upper order collapse, similar to what we witnessed in Pune. But Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli didn’t come short as both the batsmen recorded their respective centuries on the way of giving India a respectable total.

After a couple of substandard performances, Rohit Sharma didn’t take long to get into the groove as he smashed a Man Of The Match-winning 138-ball 147, while also unleashing his authority on almost every New Zealand bowler.

Virat Kohli, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with playing the second fiddle, stealing singles whenever he can and punishing loose ball for a boundary. However, the score was 259/2 in the 42nd over after Santer gave visitors the needed breakthrough in form of Rohit Sharma and this was the moment where the Indian skipper took center stage.

En route to his 113, he crossed the 9,000-run mark in ODIs, scoring an astonishing 1,437 runs this year, which is the most by an Indian captain in ODIs. This was enough for team India to register a total of 337 runs which wasn’t going to be easy for Kane Williamson & Co. to chase.

In response, while Colin Munro’s 75 and Kane Williamson’s 64 gave Kiwis the perfect start, Yuzvendra Chahal came to the rescue and dismissed them in quick succession. Tom Latham’s 65 runs off 52 again gave the visitors some hope as the batsman stitched two crucial partnerships with Henry Nicholls (37) and Ross Taylor (39).

But what followed was some brilliant death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar which won the match as well as the 7th consecutive bilateral series for India.

Here are some interesting stats from the India vs New Zealand 2017, 3rd ODI

• Virat Kohli is now the first batsman to score 2000 runs in international cricket this year. This is also the second time the Indian skipper has scored 2000+ international runs in a year.

• Kohli crossed the 5000 international runs-mark in just 93 innings as a captain, the fastest skipper do so. He also became the first captain to score his sixth ODI century in a calendar year.

• Playing his 194th ODI innings in the India vs New Zealand 2017, 3rd ODI, Virat Kohli breached the 9000 ODI-runs milestone, the fastest to do as AB de Villiers’ earlier held the record of 205 innings.

• Rohit Sharma, during his 147-run knock, became the second player to score 1000 ODI runs in 2017, after Virat Kohli.

• With his 2 sixes during the India vs New Zealand 2017, 3rd ODI, Sharma also became the second-fastest player to score 150 sixes in ODIs (165 innings).

• Jasprit Bumrah, with the dismissal of Martin Guptill, became the second fastest Indian bowler after Ajit Agarkar (23 matches) to take 50 ODI wicket (28 matches).

• Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have 12-century partnerships in One Day Internationals, the third most by an Indian pair.

• Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma now have four 200-runs partnerships in ODIs, the most by any pair.

• India won its seventh consecutive bilateral ODI series with skipper Virat Kohli, the most by an Indian captain.

• Virat Kohli, with 11 partnerships, has been a part of the most number of 200 stands in ODIs.

• This was Virat Kohli’s 13th ODI fifty as the skipper, the second highest tally by any captain in ODIs.

With the India vs New Zealand 2017 ODI series turning out to be one of the most enthralling fixtures of the home season, now we expect even more firecrackers in the T20I leg, which starts from 1st November at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi.