India dished out a dominating performance to crush New Zealand by 90 runs as spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal yet again tormented the home batsmen after a superlative batting show by the visitors in the second ODI, at Mount Maunganui on Saturday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0, inching closer to their first bilateral ODI series win on New Zealand soil since 2009. India had won 3-1 in 2009 but lost 0-4 to the hosts when they toured in 2014.
The win is also India's first ever in ODIs on Republic Day (January 26), after three defeats against Australia in 1986, 2000 and 2015.
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Here are what the captains and the man of the match siad after the match:
Virat Kohli, India Captain
On India's win and his approach:
- Clinical performance again. We had a par score as Rohit mentioned with the kind of pitch and boundary dimensions here. But we bowled really well and back-to-back clinical performances are really pleasing.
I made a conscious effort after the second drinks break to take some risks. Once I got out, the new batsman had to take time. These are the things we need to look into with the World Cup nearby.
Need to score more in the middle overs:
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- We would like to score those 15-20 runs extra but at the same time, good to see us chip our way to a balanced total. They are always ready to bowl for you and pick wickets, which is key. They are not content to go wicketless for 40 runs in their quota, they'd rather have more wickets for 60. That mindset is crucial for us and as is Rohit and Shikhar at the top.
Kane Williamson, New Zealand captain
Giving credit where it's due:
- Little frustrating, not so much the loss but how we are losing is the problem. Credit to India. Both surfaces so far have been slower than usual but still fair surfaces. Good signs with the ball at some points though we never got control as such.
Failed chase:
- 324 was a good score that could be chased down here. There were some good steps forward, particularly by our bowlers to keep them down to 320-odd. Important not to carried away by results and focus just on small steps.
Throwing wickets away:
- Some of the dismissals were a result of us going too hard maybe. If we had wickets in hand, you never know but we didn't have wickets in hand. Those are the lessons that we need to take ahead.
Rohit Sharma, MoM
On pitch:
- Good feeling, but more importantly, we won the match. We didn't know how the pitch will behave. The last time when SL and NZ played here, it was a high scoring game. When we got 324, we thought it was a par score and not a big score.
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Hails bowlers:
- Credit to our bowlers for doing a good job. (On his 14 century stands with Dhawan) We know each other since long and have a good understanding.
His understanding with Shikhar Dhawan:
- Important for the team to get a good start and I have always enjoyed batting with Shikhar, I am sure it's the same for him too. Lovely ground here and it was nice to see such a big crowd on open ground.
The third match will be played at the same venue on Monday.
