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1. Boult from the blue
The left-arm pacer struggled to make an impact in the first three ODIs when there was no swing on offer. But here the ball moved around, and Boult regained his mojo taking five wickets for 21 runs in 10 straight overs. He received ample support from other end too as Colin de Grandhomme too bowled 10 successive overs to grab three wickets. By the time, both the bowlers finished their 20 overs, India were 55 for 8. The strategy was simple. - pitch the ball up and allow it to swing. The Indian top order sans rested Virat Kohli and injured MS Dhoni did not have any answers. Shubman Gill made his debut and made 9 off 21 balls and got hit on the helmet by Boult. But he will certainly see brighter days.
2. Shaky middle-order
Of course, you can say the ball was swinging and the Kiwi bowlers were on top of their mark. But that does not take away the focus from the loose shots played by Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik. Rayudu, still in the process of cementing his No 4 slot, wafted at an away going delivery from De Grandhomme and Karthik followed the suit when leaving the ball alone would have been an easier and safer option. The absence of Kohli and Dhoni felt big way as there was no batsman around whom others would have played.
3. Reserves struggle
Gill came in for rested skipper Virat Kohli and made 21-ball 9. We saw wristy whip to square leg for a boundary and we also saw him getting hit flush in helmet but he soldiered on. This day it was a struggle for him but Gill might have learned a lot of lessons from this outing. And he will be better for it. Khaleel Ahmed replaced Mohammed Shami in the line-up. But the left-arm pacer quite unimpressive with the new ball, leaking 19 runs in three overs. At the other end, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya tested the batsmen even while defending a modest 93, but Khaleel never really looked the part. He has plenty of work to do if he wants to establish himself as the back-up seamer to Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Shami.
4. Captians speak
ROHIT SHARMA: "I think one of the worst performances for us with the bat in a long, long time. You have to give credit to the New Zealand bowlers. There is something to learn for us, when conditions are not easy what to do as a batting unit. You need to grind it out but we failed to do that today. It was a great wicket to bat on once you are in. But we failed. We didn't apply ourselves. It's always challenging when the ball is swinging. It's not us, every team will find it difficult when the ball is swinging. We expected ourselves to go out there and put up a better show. Having won the series doesn't mean we should relax. We need to keep ticking the boxes. Good teams do that. Looking forward to Wellington."
KANE WILLIAMSON: "I don't think we expected this much. But guys bowled well. It was nice to bowl them out for 90 odd - a lot of credit to the guys for the areas they bowled in, especially Trent. The ball was swinging. We explored the surface really well and then chased down well. Today was an outstanding performance, but it will be a different surface in Wellington. Different challenge. It was great to have a win today."
