Stand-in captain Tom Latham was elated as New Zealand won the second ODI against India in Auckland by 22 runs to seal the three-match series 2-0, with a game to spare.
The Kiwis bounced back strongly from the 5-0 drubbing in the T20Is; winning in Hamilton by four wickets before continuing their good work at the Eden Park.
The hosts recovered from a middle-order collapse to post a fighting total of 273/8, with half-centuries from opener Martin Guptill (79) and Ross Taylor (73*). In the second half, Tim Southee (2/41), debutant Kyle Jamieson (2/42) did significant damage with the ball as the Black Caps successfully defended their score.
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"It's a great victory," Latham said at the post-game presentation ceremony. "The last game, batters won the game and today the bowlers did the job for us. It's always a funny wicket, if you pick up early scalps, you are always in the game."
Latham lauded the ninth-wicket partnership between Taylor and Jamieson as they changed the momentum around before Southee & co decisively turned the tide in their team's favour. And even though Ravindra Jadeja threatened to spoil their party, the hosts still prevailed at the end.
"That partnership for us towards the back-end was a vital one," he said. "I was never satisfied till the last wicket was taken. It was about juggling the bowlers around. They kept coming back and Kyle on debut was fantastic today. It will be great to win 3-0, fingers crossed!"
Jamieson was awarded the "Player-of-the-Match" for his all-round contribution. "On a high at the moment, need time to sink it in; the game ebbed and flowed all along," the 25-year-old pacer said. "Pretty simple (game-plan in partnership with Taylor), take it to the 50 overs (about his batting stint with Ross Taylor), a total of around 230-240, we would have been happy, just wanted to stay there and stick with Ross, be there till the end."
Jamieson dismissed opener Prithvi Shaw when he looked set to play a long innings.
"A surreal moment to get a wicket in the first over, it was more relief than anything else, happy that I didn't go for too many. International cricket is high intensity with a big crowd watching along," he concluded.
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
