'No. 1 team' - India complete series whitewash against New Zealand in style

Team India registered a massive win by 90 runs against New Zealand in the third and final ODI contest played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Tuesday, January 24. By virtue of the victory, Rohit Sharma and co. clinched the series 3-0 - successfully completing another whitewash this year after the ODI series against Sri Lanka. 

Earlier in the day, the Kiwi skipper Tom Latham won the toss and elected to field first, a decision which came to haunt them in the contest. India openers Rohit and Shubman Gill swiftly hit the ground running as the duo slammed 212 runs between them before the skipper was dismissed. The 212-run partnership between Rohit and Gill is also the highest by an opening pair against New Zealand in ODIs.

Rohit smashed 101 runs of 85 balls, his second-fastest ton in ODIs, whereas Gill amassed 112 runs in 78 deliveries. Gill’s century also meant that the batter equalled Pakistan’s Babar Azam's World Record of scoring the most runs (360 runs) in a three-match ODI series, doing so at the age of 23. 

Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who came down the middle-order guided the side to attain a massive total of 385 runs in their stipulated 50 overs of the contest with a quick half-century (54 runs off 38 balls). 

Devon Conway’s century goes in vain 

The visitors lost their opener Finn Allen on the second ball of their innings as Hardik bowled him out to further dent the former’s confidence. What followed was a sensational knock produced by Devon Conway, who smacked the ball effortlessly and scored 138 runs off 100 balls which included 12 fours and eight sixes.

Just as the batter tried to execute a rescue job for the side in the contest, young pacer Umran Malik sent him packing which handed a massive scare to the Kiwis. Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur returned with bowling figures of 3/62 and 3/45 respectively to wrap up the contest.

With their domineering performance, India clinched the series 3-0 and are now the no.1 ODI team in the rankings as toppled England.

Here is how the Netizens reacted to the series win-