Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 16 : The Indian and New Zealand cricket teams arrived in Indore on January 15 ahead of the third and final ODI between both teams, at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on January 18.
The third ODI between India and New Zealand will be the series decider as New Zealand denied the Men in Blue the opportunity to gain an unassailable lead in the second match of the three-match series at Rajkot.
Team India, who entered the second ODI after registering a thrilling four-wicket victory against the tourists in Vadodara in the series opener, faced a heavy seven-wicket drubbing at the hands of the Michael Bracewell-led New Zealand. While India batter KL Rahul showcased his skills with an unbeaten 112-run knock, it was New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 131-run innings that helped the Kiwis go over the line and level the series 1-1.
In the match, NZ opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Rohit Sharma (24 in 38 balls, with four boundaries) and skipper Shubman Gill (56 in 53 balls, with nine fours and a six) started off well with a 70-run opening stand, but they lost their way courtesy of a fine spell of Kristian Clarke (3/56), which removed Rohit, Virat and Shreyas Iyer. KL's 73-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja (27) and a 57-run stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy (20) took India to 284/7 in 50 overs.
During the run-chase, NZ lost their two wickets for 43 runs, but a 162-run stand between Mitchell (131* in 117 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) and Young (87 in 98 balls, with seven fours) and another partnership between Mitchell and Glenn Phillips (32* in 25 balls, with two fours and a six) of 78 runs ended the match on a one-sided manner, with Mitchell getting the 'Player of the Match' award.