Kohli heroics in vain as New Zealand complete historic series win

A fighting 54th ODI century from Virat Kohli went in vain as New Zealand sealed their first bilateral ODI series win in India with an impressive display in Indore. New Zealand were propelled by another century from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips helped himself to his second ODI ton as well to help them post a massive total. While India's hopes appeared to end early, Kohli managed to drag the contest right until the end alongside Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana, only for India to fall short by 41 runs.

India put New Zealand under pressure early. Henry Nicholls left his first ball and was bowled off an inside edge. Three balls later, Devon Conway edged Harshit Rana to slip, leaving New Zealand at 5/2 after just seven deliveries. Daryl Mitchell, in form, joined Will Young to rebuild, with boundaries flowing in the powerplay.

Rana broke the stand by dismissing Young, but Mitchell then partnered with Glenn Phillips to turn the game. Mitchell used his feet perfectly against Kuldeep Yadav, hammering the wrist spinner's first ball for a six. He soon brought up another half-century, though New Zealand's run rate at the halfway mark was still around 5.

Phillips, on 22 off 27, broke free with a boundary off Mohammad Siraj, followed by a six off Arshdeep Singh and successive boundaries to move into the 40s. Mitchell accelerated with boundaries against Ravindra Jadeja, while Phillips lifted his strike rate past 100. Mitchell brought up his ninth ODI ton, positioning New Zealand for a strong finish. The pair toyed with India's bowling, dealing in fours and sixes, with Phillips reaching his century off just 83 deliveries.

Arshdeep and Siraj struck in successive overs to remove both centurions, but the damage was done. India pulled things back slightly at the death, though Michael Bracewell's unbeaten 28 ensured New Zealand finished strongly.

In reply, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill found five boundaries in the first four overs, but New Zealand struck early. Rohit hit straight to mid-on, and Gill was bowled by a peach from Kyle Jamieson. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul contributed just four runs combined, leaving India reeling at 71/4.

Virat Kohli, at the other end, looked in great touch. He hammered a pull for six early and added boundaries to race to 27 off 25 balls. New Zealand lost skipper Michael Bracewell to a calf injury, leaving them a bowler short, but with four Indian batters back, they fancied their chances. A determined Kohli kept India in the hunt with key partnerships.

He first stabilised the innings with Nitish Reddy, who smashed two sixes in two overs to bring up his maiden ODI fifty. Against the run of play, Kristian Clarke dismissed Reddy. Jayden Lennox, in an impressive spell, removed Jadeja, leaving Kohli stranded. Yet again, Kohli found support, this time from Harshit Rana.

Both Kohli and Rana went on a boundary-hitting spree, delighting the crowd. Kohli brought up his century, and the equation came down to 108 from the final 10 overs. Rana went berserk, clubbing a couple of sixes and finding boundaries regularly as India scored 40 runs in three overs to position themselves for a chase.

However, one Zakary Foulkes over dented India big time. He ended Rana's heroics and removed Siraj next ball, leaving Kohli to do it alone. Kohli attempted a couple of boundaries, but one miscue ended his enterprising innings and India's hopes.

Brief scores: New Zealand 337/8 in 50 overs (Daryl Mitchell 137, Glenn Phillips 106; Arshdeep Singh 3/63) beat India 296 in 46 overs (Virat Kohli 124, Nitish Reddy 53; Kristian Clarke 3/54) by 41 runs.