Related Links : India Tour of New Zealand 2013/14 – ANZ ODI Series Schedule | NZ Vs Ind, 5th ODI at Wellington
Ross Taylor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
India’s strong batting came a cropper again, this time around losing the fifth and final ODI at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington by a huge margin of 87 runs. Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand crushed India with a margin of 4-0 with only the third ODI giving any consolation to the visitors in the form of a tie.
The only win for India so far on this tour has been with the toss and MS Dhoni called it right for a fifth time in a row. Dhoni was back to his team chasing while made one change to the line-up. Shikhar Dhawan came back in the team at the expense of the poor Stuart Binny who was dropped without any proper reason. The Kiwis continued to rotate its players and this time rested the duo of Tim Southee and Hamish Bennett to give way to Mitchell McClenaghan and the 22-year-old debutant Canterbury pacer Matt Henry.
New Zealand overcame a poor and slow start of 41 for 2 in the 13th over to bounce back into a strong position. Kane Williamson with a solid knock of 88 from 91 balls (8x4s and a six) along with centurion Ross Taylor flattened the Indian attack completely. Ross Taylor helped himself to a 10th ODI century. He almost finished the Kiwi innings with a 106-ball 102 with 10 fours and a six.
The Kiwis finished with 303 for 5 as the Indian bowlers failed to make use of their good start early on from Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The match was heavily in favour of the hosts as the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan departed in the first powerplay with just about 20 runs on the board! More trouble was in store for India as Matt Henry removed Ajinkya Rahane and AT Rayudu.
The match was as good as over at 78 for 4 in 24 overs when Skipper MS Dhoni walked in to join Virat Kohli. There was a fighting stand between the pair but soon fizzled out as the time came for the almighty big hits. Virat Kohli perished in the deep after scoring an impressive 82 from 78 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. MS Dhoni scored a slow 47 from 72 balls which only gave the Indian score some respectability.
India was eventually bowled out for 216 with Matt Henry taking 4 for 38 in 10 overs on his debut. Ross Taylor as expected was the Man of the Match.
We played worst cricket in NZ: MS Dhoni
