A game that was supposed to be a close turned out to be a cakewalk, as India thrashed New Zealand by six wickets in the second ODI on October 25.
Kane Williamson apparently did the right thing by deciding to bat first on the Pune track, but by the first 16 overs of the game, the match was pretty much in India’s favour. New Zealand’s top-three once again failed to fire, and Ross Taylor too did not replicate his heroics of the last game as the visitors found themselves reeling at 58 for 4 in the 16th over. With wickets falling at regular intervals, New Zealand huffed and puffed to 230 for 9 in the allotted 50 overs.
The score was never going to bother the in-form hosts, and although Rohit Sharma’s early departure created a panic, half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik helped them chase down the total with ease in the end.
After the game, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner admitted that the loss was disappointing, but said take nothing away from India after their clinical performance.
“Obviously it’s a little bit disappointing. I think credit has to go to India the way they bowled in the start and put us under pressure,” Santner said in the post-match press conference. “Losing the first three in the first 10 overs is not ideal if you’re batting first.”
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“We knew that 230 was a little under-par and then the way they came out and batted I guess took the game away from us. Shikhar (Dhawan) played pretty well and finished off with (Dinesh) Karthik in the end,” he added.
The left-arm spinner further said that his teammates have learned lessons and are hopeful of winning the third and final game in Kanpur, scheduled to be played on October 29.
“It’s a bit disappointing with the loss tonight but we’ve learnt our part going to Kanpur. We’re hoping to take the series 2-1,” he said. “Last year we didn’t put in a great performance to lose it 3-2 but I guess we can hit the ball rolling at Kanpur and then hopefully take the series 2-1.”
Santner also had a word of praise for the Indian batsmen’s ability to play spin.
“They’re very good players of spin and the Indian players have grown up playing a lot of spin so it makes your job a lot tougher,” he said. “I think my job is to be quite economical and try taking wickets through the middle and if I can take a few that helps but I guess today (last night) they chased their total pretty well.”