New Zealand finally found conditions to its liking — hot conditions which made the ball swing — and in the absence of captain Virat Kohli, who was rested, and M.S. Dhoni, who has a hamstring strain, bowled out India for 92 in 30.5 overs.
New Zealand reached 93-2 in only 14.4 overs, concluding the match before the scheduled dinner break. Ross Taylor made 37 in an unbroken 54-run partnership with Henry Nicholls (30 not out) to see New Zealand home, clinching the win with a six and a four from the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal.
Boult was thrilled to find the swing which is the foundation of his bowling success — he is ranked 10th in the world in ODIs — and used it expertly to wreck India’s top and middle order. The full ball, swinging into the stumps late, was too much for India batsmen who flourished in more placid conditions in the first three matches.
India lost three wickets for 33 runs and slumped to 55-8 before some tail-end resistance took it past 88, its previous lowest score against New Zealand.
Without the steadying influences of Kohli and Dhoni, India crumbled. Once New Zealand broke the opening partnership between Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply for the first time in the series, it was able to expose a middle order it hadn’t previously seen. The New Zealand bowlers had taken only nine wickets in the three previous matches.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan mocked Men in Blue for their batting collapse.
92 all out India … Can’t believe any team would get bowled out for under a 100 these days !!!!!!
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 31, 2019
His comment invited the wrath of Indian fans, who reminded him of England’s collapse in their first innings of the 1st Test against the Windies last week.
#England 77 all out ?????
— Mahesh Fan Forever (@Bharath_7kumar) January 31, 2019
92 > 77
— Sagar Singhal (@9sagar5singhal) January 31, 2019
Can’t believe any can bowlout on 77 this days..????
— Hitesh raut (@IamHiteshraut) January 31, 2019
Recently a team has played more cricket than anyone else in this planet got all out for 77… Can’t believe
— Vivek Chandrashekar (@scvivek_chandra) January 31, 2019
A depleted Indian side without Kohli & Dhoni got all out for 91 vs 3rd Ranked team NZ
A full strength England team got all out for 77 vs 8th Ranked West Indies. :)))))
LoL… Really Unbelievable 🙂
— Umesh Kesavan (@magicumesh) January 31, 2019
We know it is a bad score but it is better than 77 all out in test…. Have you ever tweeted that
— Dinesh (@rickydinesh86) January 31, 2019