New Zealand vs India : 3 Reasons why India lost the 4th ODI

After three one-sided games, everyone would have wanted a more intensely competed game between both the teams, but much to everyone's disappointment, it was another one-sided affair at Hamilton. So much that calling it one-sided would be an understatement. However, one difference today was that it was New Zealand’s turn to dominate India today & they did it with some authority.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss & decided to bowl first. For India, Virat Kohli made way for debutant Shubman Gill while Mohammed Shami was rested & made way for Khaleel Ahmed. New Zealand made 4 changes to their line-up.

Trent Boult started while being consistent in line & length. Even though Matt Henry went for few runs, Boult kept it tight & soon reaped rewards for his consistency. He got the ball to swing & first removed Dhawan and then Rohit.

This was just a start. Boult moved the ball a long way & kept picking up wickets and he was supported very nicely by Colin de Grandhomme who picked important middle-order wickets. At one point it looked like India will barely reach the 50 run mark but few runs from Hardik, Kuldeep & Chahal touched the scoreboard to a paltry 92.

New Zealand didn’t really have much to do. Even though the target was a small one, Guptill scored 14 runs from Kumar’s first 3 balls & got out on next ball. Kane Williamson played a few delightful strokes before nicking one to the keeper. Then Henry Nicholls & Taylor made sure that they will complete the win without any further damage.

With this win, New Zealand has made sure they won’t be whitewashed & they will surely give it their best in the next match to make it 3-2.

Let’s have a look at the 3 reasons why India lost so easily.

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#1 Failure for the openers

A lot rested on the opening duo but they failed to deliver

Trent Boult was on the money from the first ball. He pitched the ball in the right areas, moved the ball & gave nothing away to Indian openers. Most of the Boult’s deliveries to Dhawan were outswingers but he pushed one back into him & trapped him in front of the stumps. Dhawan playing across the line didn’t help him either.

Boult troubled Rohit as well. Many times he caught the inside edge of his bat when he tried to defend the ball or drive it on the up. He was lucky that ball was not deflected onto the stumps. But finally, Boult had him. It was another inswinger from Boult, Rohit tried to dab it straight down the ground but movement & bounce meant it did not hit the middle of his bat & Boult took a fine catch.

Yes, it was a testing spell of swing bowling from Boult but with fragile middle order & no Kohli, the onus was on the openers to gave India a good start and they failed to do so.

#2 Middle-order fails to arrest the slide

Rayudu played a rash shot to throw away his wicket

After Dhawan’s departure, in walked debutant Gill. He looked assured at the start of the innings & got off the mark with a flick to Matt Henry to the ball which was on his pads. However, Trent Boult tested his defense by bowling inswingers & outswingers. Finally, he had his man when he got Gill out in a similar fashion.

Ambati Rayudu got out when he tried to play an uppish cover drive to Colin de Grandhomme & Karthik got out to him as well when he chased a wide ball and played a nothing shot really. Both poor strokes when your team is in trouble. Both of them had a big chance to make a big score and claim their place in the team. However, they missed a golden opportunity and they have no one but themselves to blame for that. When your team is in trouble & conditions are testing, you have to take your team and get a partnership and they both failed to do so.

#3 Trent Boult did the damage

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As they say, sometimes you just have to stand & applaud the brilliance of your opponent. This was such a day when Trent Boult deserves the appreciation.

He was on the right spot since the very first ball in his spell. Except for a few balls on batsman’s pad, he bowled probing line & length for most of his 10 overs. He kept bowling outswingers to Dhawan & bowled one which held it’s the line to dismiss Dhawan. Even though Rohit & Gill got out caught & bowled, it was Boult & Williamson’s brilliant thinking. They packed the leg side field with a fielder at catching position & hence forcing them to hit straight which resulted in caught & bowled.

The ball he bowled to Kedar Jadhav was another beauty where he trapped him in front with a beautiful inswinger. While to Pandya, he bowled a very good surprise bouncer after bowling full-length balls to him.

He had no success in the first few overs but he persisted with good line & length and eventually got his rewards which lead to India’s downfall.