New Zealand's captain Kane Williamson has expressed frustration at his team's middle-order failure as India masterfully chased 286 to clinch the third One-Day International (ODI) by seven wickets to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. New Zealand lost six wickets for 46 that had it reduced to 199 for 8 before Jimmy Neesham and Matt Henry put on a rescue act.
>Report: India goes 2-1 up after Kohli, Dhoni craft masterful chase
“Frustrating to lose those wickets in the middle. We were probably looking for more at this stage," Williamson said. "Neesham batting at the end was a great effort. It’s not always an easy chase, but M.S. (Dhoni) and Virat (Kohli) played superbly. If you took early wickets, it makes it look like a good total. We did that but then those two came out, put on 150 and took the game away.”
The partnership of 84 in 67 balls between Neesham and Henry took New Zealand to a total of 285. It was eclipsed without much difficulty by Virat Kohli's unbeaten 154 and M. S. Dhoni's 90.
Kohli thought “a bit of luck” went his way when Ross Taylor dropped him on six. Following this reprieve his match-winning knock was constructed.
“It was a really good game for us. Probably gave away 30-40 runs too many. The wicket wasn’t all that flat. Some deliveries were holding up. In the past, I’ve tried to play out of my skin and probably got overexcited but then understood that if I time the ball well enough and work the gaps, I can get more purchase out of my strokes. Happy for now.”
On his part, India's captain Dhoni said, “We could have done better in the last game. But it's important to have no hangover. We kept getting wickets in the middle to restrict them. The surprise package has been Kedar (Jadhav). I have no clue how he gets wickets, that’s the reality of it.”
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