Internet Desk: New Zealand pacers rattled India’s chase after opener Martin Guptill’s splendid half century to seal a 19-run win and level the five-match series 2-2 in the fourth and penultimate ODI cricket match at Ranchi on Wednesday.
In pursuit of 261 on a pitch with variable bounce, India started off positively with Ajinkya Rahane returning to form in his 57 from 70 balls (5×4, 1×6).
He along with Virat Kohli (45 from 51 balls; 2×4, 1×6) laid the foundation before Tim Southee (3/40), James Neesham (2/38) and Trent Boult (2/48) threw the chase in disarray.
Visibly under pressure, Dhoni played an atypical slow innings consuming 31 balls for his 11 before being bowled by Neesham who also took Rahane in the previous over to start the slide.
Later Southee accounted for Manish Pandey (12) and Kedar Jadhav (0) off successive balls to stifle India.
With 94 required off 84 balls and three wickets intact, Axar Patel (38 from 40 balls; 3×4, 1×6) and Amit Mishra (14 from 17 balls; 1×4) revived their hopes in a 38 partnership from 37 balls.
But Mishra was run out after a poor judgment as it was all but over for India who suffered their first loss in Ranchi from four ODIs and one T20Is.
Locked 2-2, the final one-dayer in Visakhapatnam October 29 will determine the winner of the five-match series.
The match was interestingly poised for both the teams with Neesham sending Rahane and Dhoni back to pavilion in back to back overs.
The medium pacer had Rahane plumb in the second ball of his new spell to remove the Indian batsman who looked well set and was on course to finish the chase in his halfcentury.
The Indian opener had done all the hard work and batted beautifully on a difficult track where the odd ball stayed low but his dismissal with more than 100 shy of the target put the spotlight on the local hero Dhoni.
Dhoni looked under pressure and struggled to time the ball on the difficult pitch before being cleaned up by Neesham in the next over.
India had started out the chase with clinical precision when Kohli and Rahane went about their task with ease and made the Kiwis three-spin attack look mediocre.
The duo matched themselves from run to run and Rahane brought up his best score on the series en route to his 16th ODI half-century with a boundary off Anton Devcich.
Just when India looked in firm control, Sodhi claimed the prized wicket of Kohli who got out caught trying to cut a ball way outside offstump.
Practically-speaking, the chase was as good as over for the Kohli-dependent India but the crowd did not mind anticipating a Dhoni special in his possible last appearance.
Amid chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’ reverberating the stands, the Indian skipper made an entry with his casual gait and he took his time waiting for the perfect ball to flourish.
But the nature of the pitch let down Dhoni on more than one occasions as he had some mishits and survived on till he completely missed the line to be bowled by Neesham.
At 135/4 in the 30th over, India needed a Kohli-like innings but there was no one to carry his bat through.
Pandey looked fluent with two elegant boundaries before a brilliant jumping catch by Latham at mid on cut short his innings as India lost Kedar Jadhav next ball to leave the chase in total disarray.
Earlier Martin Guptill struck a sublime 84-ball 72 to take New Zealand to a modest 260/7 after Williamson opted to bat winning the toss for the first time after three Tests and as many ODIs.
Guptill struck 12 en route to 31st his half century as he along with Latham (39 from 40 balls; 4×4) gave New Zealand the best start of the series putting together 96 from 93 balls.
Just when the New Zealand duo looked to ran away to big scores, Patel dismissed Latham, while Pandya halted Guptill’s free run.
With 184/2 after 35 overs and a set Kane Williamson in the middle, New Zealand were still in sight of 300.
But Mishra (2/41) took the crucial wickets of Williamson (41 from 59 balls; 4×4) and James Neesham (6) in successive overs to restrict their total under 300.
Williamson was foxed by the bounce and took an edge to Dhoni, while Neesham’s mistime found Kohli at cover as India did well to arrest their progress.
Patel returned with a tidy 1/38 from his quota, while parttime offspinner Jadhav returned wicketless but conceded just 27 runs from his eight overs.
Having started off with a maiden, India leaked 16 runs in the second over.
Brought in place of an indisposed Jasprit Bumrah in the solitary change to India XI, Kulkarni bowled full on a slow surface and was the most expensive of the lot with 1/59 from his seven overs.
Guptill, having assessed the condition in the first over, hit three exquisite boundaries to start off against Kulkarni.
Yadav bowled with pace but the accuracy was missing and often was wayward down the leg trying to get across the line against the lefthanded Latham to a packed offside field.
The left and right hand easily dissected the field with boundaries all around the wikcet and Dhoni continued with this pair for 10 overs before Mishra and Patel were brought in.
From 80 without loss in 10 overs, the spin duo’s tight bowling brought the run-rate down before Patel gave the breakthrough denying Latham (39) a sixth fifty on this tour.
The lefthander took a top edge while trying for a slog sweep to a width deliery before Rahane took the catch at short fine leg.
The only blip in Guptill innings was when he went for a lofted shot over mid-on when on 29 with Mishra nearly pulling off a spectacular catch to his wrong side.
Guptill once again got a reprieve with Mishra at the receiving end when he was on 62 as the Indian legspinner failed to judge a high catch on the longoff boundary in what appeared that the afternoon sun obstructed his view.
But a smart bowling change by Dhoni who brought in Pandya, after a lengthy spell from the spinners, gave India the prized wicket of Guptill.
The Black Caps made three changes to their XI bolstering the spin attack with Sodhi and Devcich to go with Mitchell Santner, while wicketkeeper BJ Watling was included for the first time in the ODI series replacing Luke Ronchi.