India captain Virat Kohli yesterday criticized his team’s ability to cope under pressure after they suffered a rare series whitewash against New Zealand following a five-wicket hammering in the third one-day international (ODI) at Mount Maunganui.
A K.L. Rahul century was not enough of a platform for the tourists, who made 296-7 after being put in to bat.
New Zealand, stung by a 5-0 shutout in a Twenty20 series, reached the target with 17 balls to spare.
Photo: AP
A frustrated Kohli, who admonished his players for poor fielding several times during the match, said that it was a fair result.
“We didn’t deserve to be on the winning side at all in the series,” he said. “We haven’t played so badly, but if you don’t grab chances at this level, then teams are going to hurt you. We didn’t show enough composure under pressure. New Zealand did.”
It was the first time India have been whitewashed in a bilateral ODI series of three or more matches since 1989 and the only time it has ever happened against New Zealand.
Openers Henry Nicholls and Martin Guptill gave New Zealand a flying start with 80 and 66 respectively.
Colin de Grandhomme then steadied a mid-innings wobble, bludgeoning 58 off 28 balls to see the hosts finish on 300-5.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahals was the pick of India’s bowlers, taking 3-47.
Earlier, Rahul boosted India’s hopes with his fourth ODI century, bringing up the landmark off 104 balls, before departing on 112.
He was supported by a gritty 62 from Shreyas Iyer, but most of India’s batters failed to live up to Kohli’s pre-match exhortation to play positively and post a big total.
Prithvi Shaw and Manish Pandey both reached the 40s, but no other batters made double figures, with Kohli out for 9.
Still, Rahul looked set to steer India to a huge total before New Zealand paceman Hamish Bennett slowed the scoring with a late flurry of wickets.
Rahul had a life on 64 when Mitchell Santner’s throw at the stumps went wide and the batsman made the most of it to score his fourth ODI century, bringing up the landmark off 104 balls, including nine fours and one six.
Bennett dismissed Rahul for 112 and then snared Manish Pandey for 42 off his next ball.
His fourth wicket came when Shardul Thakur sent a full toss straight to De Grandhomme and the bowler was unlucky not to get another when Navdeep Saini almost edged the next delivery onto his stumps.
The focus turns to Test cricket, with the first of two five-day matches scheduled to begin in Wellington on Friday next week.
The results of both matches are to count toward the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, in which India are runaway leaders.
Kohli said he wanted India to display an improved mentality during the Tests.
“I’m very, very excited because of the championship every match has that much more importance and we have a really good, balanced team in Test cricket,” he said.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS