Rajkot ODI: Daryl Mitchell Smashes Unbeaten Ton As New Zealand Thrashes India By 7 Wickets

Rajkot: A lacklustre bowling performance proved to be the downfall for Team India as New Zealand scripted a dominant seven-victory victory in the second One-Day International (ODI) in Rajkot on Wednesday. The three-match series is now tied at 1-1. The decisive match of the series will be played in Indore on Sunday.

Who was the best performer for the Kiwis?

Daryl Mitchell was the hero of New Zealand's victory, scoring an unbeaten century (131 not out). Will Young also contributed a crucial 87 runs. Earlier, the Indian team, thanks to KL Rahul's unbeaten 112, had reached a respectable score of 284/7. India had won the first ODI in Vadodara.

Mitchell's century, Young's 87 runs, and their partnership turned the match around.

How did the visitors’ innings pan out?

New Zealand got off to a steady start during the run chase. Harshit Rana provided India with the first breakthrough. Rana bowled Devon Conway for 16 runs, reducing New Zealand's score to 22/1. Henry Nicholls and Will Young then tried to play cautiously, but Prasidh Krishna bowled Henry Nicholls in his second over. Nicholls was out for 10 runs, and the Kiwi team's score became 46/2. In the 23rd over, New Zealand's score crossed 100.

A brilliant partnership ensued between Will Young and Daryl Mitchell. India had two opportunities in Kuldeep Yadav's over, the 36th of the innings. First, a run-out chance of Daryl Mitchell was missed in the 36th over. Then, on the third ball of the same over, Kuldeep Yadav dropped Mitchell's catch when he was on 82 runs.

However, in his next over (the 38th of the innings), Kuldeep had Will Young caught out by Nitish Reddy for 87 runs. New Zealand's score reached 208/3. However, Daryl Mitchell remained steadfast at one end and completed his century in 96 balls. Mitchell stayed at the crease until the end, leading New Zealand to victory before returning to the pavilion. He played an innings of 131 runs off 117 balls, including 11 fours and 2 sixes. This was Mitchell's 8th ODI century and his third against India.

Overall, the partnership between Young and Mitchell tilted the match in New Zealand's favor. The Indian bowlers failed to take wickets in the middle overs, and the two batsmen forged a 158-run partnership, which proved to be the turning point of the match.

How did the Indian batters perform?

Only KL Rahul performed well, with Shubman Gill providing good support. Batting first, Team India had a very slow start. Both Gill and Rohit struggled to score runs. Rohit could only open his account after 11 balls. 

After 6 overs, India's score was only 18 runs. But after that, both batted aggressively. As a result, after 10 overs, India's score reached 57 runs. But in the 13th over, India suffered its first setback when Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 24 runs. Rohit hit 4 fours. After this, Gill scored a fifty off 47 balls in the 15th over. But in the 17th over, Gill was dismissed. Gill scored a total of 56 runs.

In the 22nd over, India suffered its third setback when Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 8 runs. But KL Rahul remained at the crease at the other end. Immediately after this, on the third ball of the 24th over, Virat Kohli (23 runs, 29 balls) was also dismissed. He was bowled by Clark. After Kohli's dismissal, Jadeja and KL Rahul batted cautiously and took the score to 191, but at that score, Ravindra Jadeja was caught by Kiwi captain Michael Bracewell off his own bowling.

Following this, Nitish Reddy and KL Rahul forged a half-century partnership. However, in the 47th over, Nitish Reddy was dismissed after scoring 20 runs. Harshit Rana was then dismissed in the 48th over. Meanwhile, KL Rahul completed his century off 87 balls. This was Rahul's first century after 19 innings. Rahul scored 112 runs, which helped India reach a total of 284 runs.