Centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips set up New Zealand's first-ever ODI series win in India, courtesy a 41-run win in the third ODI at Indore on Sunday (January 18). Virat Kohli produced his 54th ODI ton and it was a gem from the veteran but the Black Caps survived the scare to get across the line in the end.
Put into bat, New Zealand had a horror start at 5/2 with both openers falling inside the first two overs. Will Young then combined for a 53-run stand with Daryl Mitchell to steady things before the latter took total control of the innings. Young failed to convert his start but Mitchell wasn't going to let his chance go.
In Glenn Phillips, Mitchell found the ideal partner as the pair added a game-defining 219-run stand to power New Zealand into a dominant position. It was Mitchell's second successive ODI ton in the series and it was a flawless innings from start to finish. Phillips was scratchy early on but then picked up momentum with incredible acceleration at the back end.
India did pick up a few wickets towards the back end but skipper Michael Bracewell's 18-ball 28 meant that New Zealand ended with a very strong total of 337. Even with the incoming dew and small dimensions of Indore, 337 wasn't going to be straightforward. India needed the new-ball phase to go their way as batting was bound to get easier through the night.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they lost wickets early on with Rohit Sharma enduring another failure in the series. Shubman Gill looked fluent in his brief stay but couldn't carry on after stroking 23 off 18 deliveries. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul also failed to get going as India found themselves at 71/4 in the 13th over.
Kohli, though, was in peak form and produced another masterly knock in a run chase. He forged two big partnerships to keep India in the game as dew started to take effect. Nitish Reddy weighed in 53 and aided Kohli in a 88-run stand that put India on track for the chase but once the partnership was broken, India started to crumble again.
At 178-6, the game seemed done before Harshit Rana joined Kohli for a blistering 99-run stand. Rana got to his maiden ODI fifty and put on a display of pure muscle as New Zealand's bowlers were put under pressure. Kohli continued to flow fluently with minimal fuss while Rana was brute force at the other end.
It took a mishit to end Rana's stance and Kohli then fell shortly after to settle the debate of this game. New Zealand were under pressure for a bit during those two partnerships but still had control over the game throughout India's innings. The win meant a first-ever ODI series win in India to go with their first-ever Test series win in the country back in late 2024.
