India v New Zealand 4th ODI: New Zealand Player Ratings

It was Ranchi, the home of MS Dhoni that hosted the 4^th ODI between India and New Zealand. India, having a 2-1 lead in the series were looking to gain an unassailable lead in the 5-match series whereas for New Zealand, it was a do or die game to stay in the hunt. Having won the previous match, India was the favourite to emerge victorious here as well.

But the story turned out to be a different one as New Zealand came out all guns blazing with the bat in the first innings. In spite of a collapse, they managed a competitive total of 260 runs courtesy a half-century by Guptill. Considering the strong batting line up of India, the bowlers had their works cut out.

The bowlers indeed turned up with great efforts and halted the Indian lineup to 241 runs. The crucial wickets of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were picked up at the right time and the team struggled to come back. It was a superb team effort from the Kiwis which gave them a win by 19 runs.

Here are the New Zealand player ratings as the series levelled at 2 apiece:

Martin Guptill – 8/10:

The opener looked closer to his usual best for the first time on the tour. He was aggressive right from the start, the thing that was missing from his game since the trip began. He was the top-scorer in the Kiwi innings with a score of 72 off 84 balls with 12 boundaries.

He had struggled against Umesh Yadav in the earlier games but made sure he did not lose the wicket to him and started by playing out a maiden over against him. On the other end, he went after Dhawal Kulkarni in the second over and struck him for 3 consecutive boundaries. He found his feet quickly and was looking all set for a hundred but his innings was cut short by Hardik Pandya in the 26^th over.

Tom Latham – 6/10:

The biggest positive for New Zealand on the whole trip has been the gritty batting of Tom Latham. Since the first Test match, he was not ready to give up his wicket easily and the trend continued in the ODIs. In this game too, he was timing the ball well and scored 39 runs off 40 balls.

He gave the Kiwis a wonderful start along with Guptill as the duo added 96 runs together for the first wicket. When Guptill was attacking from one end, Latham played second fiddle to him and as a result, the scoreboard was moving rapidly. In the hunt to collect more runs, he lost his wicket Axar Patel in the 16^th over.

Kane Williamson – 7/10:

The Kiwi skipper after losing 5 tosses in a row on the tour finally called the right side of the coin in this game and decided to bat first. The approach of his team was aggressive from the beginning and was evident from his batting too. He scored 41 runs off 59 balls and was on the way for a big score but his wicket ignited a collapse in the batting.

Despite having a mediocre total of 260 runs on the board, the defence of New Zealand led by Williamson was commendable. He was instrumental in the bowling changes as well as the field placements and did not allow a strong Indian batting to run through. An excellent captaincy meant that the series result was pushed to the final game at Vizag.

Ross Taylor – 5/10:

The right-hander arrived at the pitch at the score of 138/2 in the 26^th over when a nice platform was set up by the openers. Along with Williamson, Taylor began to steady the innings and added 46 runs till the skipper departed in the 36^th over.

A flurry of wickets at the other end did not allow Taylor to play freely and he was forced to hold one end. But a stroke of brilliance from MS Dhoni put an end to his innings when he was found short of the crease. He scored 35 runs off 58 balls before departing in the 46^th over.

Jimmy Neesham – 7/10:

Though he failed with the bat and scored only 6 runs off 9 balls, yet his contribution turned out to be of immense importance. He first sent back the opener Ajinkya Rahane who was batting well and had already got to his half century.

Then the biggest turn around in the game came in the 30^th over when MS Dhoni was bowled by Neesham for 11. His economy rate was above 6 but the wickets of two top order batsmen were huge in the context of the game. He finished with figures of 38/2 in 6 overs.

BJ Watling – 5/10:

The wicket-keeper batsman did not have a very good time with the bat as he managed to score just 14 runs off 21 balls. He walked in at the crease in the 39^th over when the score was 192/4. A steady innings from him would have taken the score close to 300 but wasn’t to be.

He did make it up a bit with his efforts behind the wicket as he took 2 vital catches of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and also inflicted a run-out of Amit Mishra when the tail-enders threatened to take the game away from the Kiwis.

Anton Devcich – 3/10:

Playing his second game of the series, the left-hander did not have a pleasant outing as he could score only 11 runs off 11 balls. Batting at number 7, he came in to bat in the 45^th over when his side was struggling in the death overs. He failed to contribute too much and managed only run a ball innings.

He was picked up by Umesh Yadav, caught at the hands off Hardik Pandya in the 48^th over which was the last wicket to fall in the innings. With the ball, he wasn’t used much and bowled only 4 overs in which he conceded 22 runs.

Mitchell Santner – 7/10:

The left-hander who has given his best efforts throughout the tour proved to be useful yet again for New Zealand. First, with the bat, he scored useful 17 runs off 13 balls during the slog overs and added vital 18 runs with Tim Southee in the last 2 overs which took the total to 260 runs.

His major contribution then came with the ball as he had economical figures of 38/1 in his quota of 10 overs. He kept the run-scoring in check with the assistance that the pitch was offering for the spinner and bagged the wicket of the dangerous Hardik Pandya.

Also read: India v New Zealand, 4th ODI: 5 Talking Points

Tim Southee – 8/10:

The fast bowler was on a roll in the game and his superb bowling was instrumental in giving New Zealand the victory. Rohit Sharma was his first victim as he was clueless against a beautiful out-swinger from Southee and nicked it to the wicket-keeper.

When the game was in the balance in the 33^rd over, Southee turned the game completely in the favour of the Kiwis as he picked up wickets off two consecutive deliveries. Manish Pandey was caught at mid-on by Guptill when he looked to clear him and the very next ball, Kedar Jadhav was trapped in front of the wickets.

Trent Boult – 6/10:

The lefty wasn’t too effective at the start of the innings when the openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane took the attack to his bowling. He had figures of 26/0 in the first spell after bowling 4 overs.

Despite that, he came back well in the game and castled Axar Patel off an excellent yorker who was taking the game closer to India’s grasp. Later, he picked up the last wicket of the innings in the form of Umesh Yadav and finished with figures of 48/2 in 9.4 overs.

Ish Sodhi – 6/10:

The most important wicket of the Indian innings, Virat Kohli was grabbed by the leg-spinner Sodhi. The signs were ominous for New Zealand as Kohli was at work yet again in the chase and was nearing his half-century.

But he edged a wide delivery off Sodhi to the keeper who took it safely to turn the odds heavily in favour of the Kiwis. The pitch was assisting the spinners and Sodhi did well especially in his earlier spell and in the end had figures of 52/1 in 10 overs.