India suffered a series-conceding 22-run defeat in the second ODI against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday (February 8).
Asked to bat first, the hosts rode on measured knocks from Martin Guptill (79 off 79 balls) and Ross Taylor (73* of 74 balls) to post 273/8 in 50 overs. For India, wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the stand-out bowler, claiming 3 for 58 in his stipulated 10 overs.
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Defending the total, the Kiwis bundled out the visitors for 251 in 48.3 overs. India’s top-order failed miserably as Shreyas Iyer (52 off 57 balls) was the only notable contributor.
Although Ravindra Jadeja (55 off 73 balls) and Navdeep Saini (45 of 49 balls) played handy innings in the later stage, it was not enough for the Men in Blue to cross the finishing line.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, India skipper Virat Kohli said: “Two good games, and it's great for the fans. I'm impressed with how we finished. We let things slip away from 197-8 to 270+ in the first half but came back strongly with the second half of our batting. We were in trouble with the bat, but Saini and Jadeja played really well, as did Shreyas.”
In particular, he was pleased to see the contribution from lower-order.
“It's upto the individuals to fight till the end. We didn't send them any messages, because those aren't what your instincts are telling you to do. We didn't know how good Saini could be with the bat, so if the lower-order could be that good, then it inspires the middle-order and the top-order to step it up too,” the Indian captain added.
India might have conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to New Zealand in the three-match ODI series, but Kohli is not too worried about it.
“ODIs aren't too relevant this year compared to Tests and T20s, but to find people who can play that way under pressure is a big revelation for us and a big plus. We could consider changes in the final game, since we have nothing to lose now. We'll play expressive cricket and not worry too much about the result,” he concluded.
