MOHALI, Oct 23: Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 154 off just 134 deliveries as India beat New Zealand by seven wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) cricket series here on Sunday.
Kohli, who scored his 26th ODI century, shared a 151-run stand with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (80) as India chased down New Zealand�s total of 285 all out with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, Jimmy Neesham and Matt Henry shared a blistering 84-run stand for the 9th wicket to help New Zealand post 285 after Indian spinners reduced the visitors to a precarious 199 for 8.
New Zealand were set for their first 300 plus total of the series after Tom Latham (61) and Ross Taylor (44) laid the foundation with a solid 73-run stand for the third wicket.
Taylor�s dismissal led to a flurry of wickets though New Zealand still managed to reach close to the 300 milestone, thanks to a valiant partnership between Neesham (57 off 47) and Henry (39 not out off 37).
For India, Amit Mishra and Kedar Jadhav were among the wickets again, taking two and three respectively. Pacer Umesh Yadav scalped three wickets as well but proved expensive, giving away 75 runs in 10 overs.
SCORECARD
New Zealand: M Guptill lbw Yadav 27, T Latham c Pandya b Jadhav 61, K Williamson lbw b Jadhav 22, R Taylor st Dhoni b Mishra 44, C Anderson c Rahane b Jadhav 6, L Ronchi st Dhoni b Mishra 1, J Neesham c Jadhav b Yadav 57, M Santner c Kohli b Bumrah 7, T Southee b Yadav 13, M Henry not out 39, T Boult b Bumrah 1. Extras: (w-7) 7. Total (All out in 49.4 overs) 285. Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-80, 3-153, 4-160, 5-161, 6-169, 7-180, 8-199, 9-283. Bowling: Yadav 10-0-75-3, Pandya 5-0-34-0, Bumrah 9.4-0-52-2, Jadhav 5-0-29-3, Patel 10-0-49-0, Mishra 10-0-46-2.
India: Rohit Sharma lbw Tim Southee 13, Ajinkya Rahane c Mitchell Santner b Matt Henry 5, Virat Kohli not out 154, MS Dhoni c Ross Taylor b Matt Henry 80, Manish Pandey not out 28. Extras: (w 7, lb 2) 9. Total: (3 wickets; 48.2 overs) 289. Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-41, 3-192. Bowler: Matt Henry 9.2-0-56-2, Trent Boult 10-0-73-0, Tim Southee 10-0-55-1, Mitchell Santner 10-0-43-0, Jimmy Neesham 9-0-60-0.
