India thrashed New Zealand by 190 runs in the fifth and final ODI at Vizag in Saturday in what was a commanding performance. Here’s a look at some significant numbers from the match.
Thanks to his five-wicket haul, Amit Mishra finished the series as the leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets. This is the most a bowler has taken in a five-match series against New Zealand. The previous best was 13 by Darren Gough and Suil Narine. Mishra’s 15 wickets are also the second best by any Indian in a five-match series. The best is by him as well – 18 against Zimbabwe.
Mishra’s figures of 5 for 18 are now the best one-day figures achieved against New Zealand. The earlier best was a surprise 5 for 27 by Kris Srikkanth. Interestingly, that performance also came at Vizag, back in 1988-89.
The loss meant New Zealand remain winless in a bilateral ODI series in India. They have played five bilateral series’ in India. Three series have been lost by the Kiwis by 2-3 margin while in two they have been whitewashed.
The end to New Zealand innings was rather bizarre. They were 63 for 2 at one stage, but ended up crumbling to 79 all out. This translates to seven wickets lost for merely 16 runs.
New Zealand’s innings lasted merely 23.1 overs. This was their shortest ODI innings when being bowled out while their total of 79 is their fifth lowest in ODIs.
Only three New Zealand batsmen managed to reach double figures in the innings while as many as five were dismissed without scoring, a clear indication of the annihilation. Of the five players dismissed for ducks, three fell to Mishra’s guile.
While Mishra dominated proceedings, not a single Indian bowler went wicketless. Axar Patel claimed two wickets while Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and debutant Jayant Yadav claimed one wicket each.
Virat Kohli makes runs everywhere, but he has special fondness for the Vizag track, where he averages just a little under 100. Before his 65 on Saturday, Kohli’s previous scores at the venue were 118, 117 and 99.
Speaking of Kohli, he had yet another successful series, scoring 358 runs. These are now the best by an Indian batsman against New Zealand in a bilateral series. It was also the fourth time Kohli has scored 300 plus runs in an ODI series. Rahul Dravid and Quinton de Kock are the others to have achieved the feat four times.
Rohit Sharma got his first fifty of the series, and in fact, was the top scorer in India’s innings with 70. His previous scores in the series read 14, 15, 13 and 11.
There was no such luck for Ross Taylor though. The Kiwi, who made 19 on Saturday, finished the tour without a fifty. He had a highest of 36 in the Tests, and 44 in ODIs.
--By A Cricket Statsman
