Trent Boult elated after finding deadly swing in Hamilton that outplayed India

It was a Boult for the Blue in Hamilton on Thursday. Having won the first three matches, India experimented with their bench strength in the game at Seddon Park in Hamilton and it wasn’t a successful one. A five-wicket burst from pacer Trent Boult saw Rohit Sharma’s side-folding for a meagre 92 and the Black Caps easily won the match by 8 wickets to make the series 3-1. The final match of the five-match series will be played in Wellington on February 3.

It was a dramatic slump in India’s performance even though they did not have Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mohammed Shami in their ranks. After the openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan put up 21 runs for the first wicket, the Men in Blue lost 9 wickets for just 71 runs with Boult being the wrecker-in-chief.

The left-arm fast bowler made full use of the hot and humid conditions to help the Black Caps, who have been completely outplayed in the series so far, to salvage some pride. Boult bowled four maiden overs in his 10 overs and conceded just 21 runs. This was his fifth five-wicket haul in ODIs which made him equal the record of Sir Richard Hadlee with the most number of fifers in the 50-over format.

It was a completely forgettable day for Rohit (7) who made his 200th appearance for India and Shubman Gill (9), who made his international debut. The score of 92 was India’s lowest in New Zealand and the seventh overall lowest in ODIs. The hosts finished off the game in less than 15 overs which also marked India’s heaviest defeat in terms of ball remaining.

Boult now has most wickets in the series from either side

Boult’s fifer, the first accomplished in the series from either side, now makes him the highest wicket-taker (9) in the series, going past India’s Kuldeep Yadav (8) who went wicketless in the last two games.

“It was nice to see the ball move in the air like that. I feel I’m a different bowler when it swings,” the 29-year-old Boult said after the match, clearly being elated over the swing he produced to rattle the Indian batsmen.

“One of my home grounds domestically, I live about an hour away from here. I have a bit of experience here I suppose. It does swing around, bit humid here and it was nice to make the most of it today.”

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