New Zealand 292 for 7 (Williamson 71, Anderson 68*, Taylor 55, Shami 4-55) beat India 268 (Kohli 123, Dhoni 40, McClenaghan 4-68) by 24 runs:-
This is new territory for Virat Kohli. He averages an astonishing 64 in chases, at an even less believable strike rate of 92, but he has now scored a second-innings century in a defeat, his first in 12. This will take getting used to, but there were other sights you better get used to. Corey Anderson scored 68 off 40 to take New Zealand to 292, and then took the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane to further his credentials as a limited-overs allrounder. Mitchell McClenaghan, too, reinforced a knack as clean as his side-parting of producing something special out of nowhere: with 70 required off eight overs and six wickets in hand and Adam Milne injured, McClenaghan took the wickets of MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in one over, and Kohli in the next, to turn the game New Zealand's way.
It had all gone awry for New Zealand after they had attacked India all day long. From 129 for 4, the two best chasers of our time, two of the best of all time, coolly added 95 in 14 overs. Even the exceptional New Zealand fielding had begun to falter: Kohli was missed by Jesse Ryder on 95. Milne, whose raw pace was fodder for some and fear for others, had walked off with a sore back. New Zealand were running out of options. The conferences got longer. That's when Brendon McCullum went to McClenaghan.
Kohli, already past the hundred, wasn't about to give up. He took 13 off the next five balls he faced. India were still in it. With 56 required off 35, though, McClenaghan got lucky. Kohli drove a low full toss to that man Ryder at short cover. Ryder didn't make a mistake this time. Kohli couldn't believe what had happened. Earlier in the night, he wore the same look, watching from the non-striker's end, when Nathan McCullum flew at mid-off to send back Rahane, Anderson's second wicket on the night.
Until then it had been Anderson's night. His assault came at a time when India had managed to pull New Zealand back every time they threatened to run away with aggressive cricket. From the moment Ryder hit a six in the first over, India kept producing timely wickets to slow things down. When Mohammed Shami got through Ryder, who scored 18 off 16 and threatened much more, the next 10 overs brought New Zealand just 28 runs. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, though, rebuilt the innings with 121-run stand in 24.2 overs, both scoring fifties, but India somehow got Williamson just before the Powerplay, slowing the hosts down again.
There was no respite: at the other end, Ronchi slog-swept Ravindra Jadeja for two sixes and a four in the 45th over. Thirty-nine came from the 44th and the 45th overs, after which India regrouped a little, but they had still conceded 75 in the last seven, and could have easily added 20 to that 293-run target, given New Zealand's fielding.
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