Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor played some exquisite shots as New Zealand chased down India’s under-par total. (1:50)
New Zealand 180 for 4 (Taylor 71, Williamson 67) beat India 179 (Jadeja 54, Boult 4 for 33, Neesham 3 for 26) by six wickets
With everyone expecting 300-plus scores, India were bundled out for 179 in just 39.2 overs in their first warm-up game against New Zealand. Under overcast skies on a surface with plenty of grass cover, Trent Boult thrilled the fans at The Oval to end with 4 for 33. He was well-supported by Jimmy Neesham who strengthened his case for a first-team place with 3 for 26.
The New Zealand openers too fell early in the small chase but half-centuries from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor helped them cruise to victory with six wickets and almost 13 overs to spare. Will the result affect India, one doubts it, but New Zealand definitely had a fruitful outing.
Kohli had the luck with the coin but India’s top order had no answer to Boult who gave New Zealand a perfect start, striking not once, not twice, but thrice with the new ball.
First, he sent Rohit back with a swing bowler’s two-ball trick. Boult pitched his first ball of the match on a length around off stump, Rohit played for the inswing and pushed his bat forward only to get beaten as the ball moved away after landing. The next ball pitched in line with the stumps and nipped back to trap Rohit lbw. The batsman opted for a review but replays confirmed the ball would have clipped the bails.
Boult deployed a similar strategy against Shikhar Dhawan, taking a couple of balls away from the left-hand batsman before bringing one back to find a faint inside edge.
With Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav nursing little niggles, it was a golden chance for KL Rahul to stake a claim on the No. 4 spot. He had a tough initiation to his innings with Southee and Boult swinging the ball both ways. Southee even got one to beat the bat and hit the batsman on the pads. New Zealand reviewed the not-out lbw decision, but replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump comfortably.
In the next over, Rahul drove Boult through the covers for a boundary. But the seamer pulled his length back the next ball, Rahul tried to dab towards third man only to deflect it on to the stumps. Rahul knew he had burnt his chances, his frustration reflecting in him kicking the ball as it ricocheted off the stumps.
More to follow
Source: ESPN Crickinfo