Twitter Reactions: Another classical performance from Team India help them seal the ODI series

India have brushed aside New Zealand like a champion team in the first three ODIs of the five-match series. The series has been sealed by the visitors with yet another brilliant performance and clearly, they seem to be playing at entirely another level. The Kiwis improved compared to the first two matches but couldn’t even come close to their opponents.

The bowlers delivered once again for India as they bundled out the Black Caps for just 243 runs in 49 overs. Apart from a brief partnership between Ross Taylor and Tom Latham the hosts never looked in control. They fared well against the spinners this time around but the pacers were too hot to handle again. They nipped out the openers in the first powerplay and kept the run-rate in check again.

Kane Williamson was gone as well thanks to a moment of brilliance from Hardik Pandya. But then the half-centuries from Taylor and Latham gave them a hope of scoring close to 270. Just when one felt that the last ten overs would belong to New Zealand, the latter was dismissed and even Taylor missed his ton.

The wickets continued to fall and they were eventually skittled out for 243 runs with one over to spare which was clearly the under-par score. For India, Mohammed Shami was the best bowler as he returned with the figures of 3/41 while the likes Bhuvi, Chahal and Hardik accounted for a couple each.

A walk in the park

This target was nothing for the Indian batting line-up which was without MS Dhoni today. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got them off to a decent start. The latter was dismissed then by Trent Boult which only brought Virat Kohli to the middle. He along with Rohit took the team to safety with a century partnership.

A 113-run stand for the second wicket ensured that India were sealing the series hands down without much fuss. The Kiwis, however, weren’t giving up easily as they got better of both the batsmen in the space of a couple of overs but to no avail. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik completed the formalities with an unbeaten 77-run stand in 71 balls.

While India’s number four remained not out on 40, Karthik did no harm to his chances by scoring 38 as the Men in Blue sealed yet another ODI series with two matches to go. This was last game of the tour for Kohli as Sharma takes over the mantle of leadership from him and it remains to be seen if the Kiwis will be able to compete in the last two matches.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the innings:

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