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PHOTOS: India lose to Kiwis despite Dhoni, Kohli fireworks
New Zealand beat India by 15 runs in the second One-Day International in Hamilton to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series on Wednesday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni put up a late fight to resurrect India’s dipping fortunes before a total collapse and another spell of rain forced the umpires to call off the match in the last over.
He made a valiant effort to overhaul a revised target of 297 in 42 overs, but India could only muster up 277 for 9 in 41.3 overs.
When rain intervened for a second time and the match was called off, the Duckworth-Lewis par score was 293 in 41.3 overs.
Indian openers slow off the blocks
India openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were slow off the blocks and scored 10 for no loss in five overs, with just one boundary coming.
Dhawan continued to struggle for form and was finally bowled by Tim Southee for 12 off 22 balls.
Virat Kohli came in one down and immediately showed the good form he is in, getting off the mark with a boundary.
Rohit was the next to go. He hit a couple of boundaries before chasing a wide one and was caught behind by Luke Ronchi off the bowling off Southee.
Kohli rallies India
Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then took on the mantle to hit the big runs. They found the boundaries and sixes even as they took sneaky singles.
The duo went after spinner Nathan McCullum and punished his loose deliveries.
At the halfway stage, India were 107 for two in 21 overs, with 190 needed from the remaining 21 overs for victory.
Kohli brought up his 50 with a single to deep square leg off just 41 balls to follow up on his century in the previous match
The duo kept the scoreboard ticking, but, unfortunately, Rahane was caught behind after a good innings of 36 from 42 balls.
Rahane and Kohli brought India back into the contest after a poor start, putting on 90 runs in 83 balls for the third wicket.
Dhoni played in T20 mode
Then Dhoni came in at No. 5, ahead of Suresh Raina.
He and Kohli’s partnership saw a lot of runs coming through quick singles and twos. They capitalised on the loose deliveries and played inventive, risky shots to find a six and the odd boundary.
India took the batting Powerplay in the 30th over. Kohli found a boundary over mid-wicket to take his score to 74, but he was caught off the next ball in the same position off the bowling of Southee.
Dhoni was joined by Raina and both played with an aggressive intent.
India now needed 107 off 10 overs and this was when Dhoni switched to T20 mode.
Dhoni-Raina made most of batting Powerplay
The batting Powerplay was very fruitful for India as both batsmen went after the bowling and challenged the nimble footed Kiwi fielders.
Runs flowed all across the field and catches were dropped even as India scored 42 runs in four overs of the Batting Powerplay.
Soon, India lost Raina, but Dhoni continued to slog the bowlers. His resistance was finally broken when Anderson had him caught after a quickfire innings of 56 from 44 balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin played some big shots and in no time Ravindra Jadeja fell before rain interrupted play for the second time and the umpires decided to call off the match.
Shami bags three wickets
Earlier, Mohammad Shami (3 for 55) was the pick of the India bowlers, who dished out yet another listless performance as New Zealand put up an imposing 271 for 7 in 42 overs after Dhoni won a second toss in a row and elected to field again.
Williamson set up the platform for the Kiwis
Kane Williamson set up the platform for the Kiwis with a polished 77 and Corey Anderson played a brilliant cameo, smashing 44 off only 17 balls, including five huge sixes.
Williamson scored his second successive half-century of the series, following his 71 runs at Napier.
Taylor scores crucial half century
Skipper Ross Taylor scored 57 off 56 balls, with seven hits to the fence, as the Kiwis had the measure of the Indian bowlers.
Rain break didn't put the brakes on home team
As per the Duckworth/Lewis method, India had to score 297 runs in the stipulated overs largely due to home team's brutal assault in the death overs during which they scored a whopping 101 runs in 8.4 overs.
The lengthy rain break did not put the brakes on home team's scoring although they lost five wickets post the interval.