India were all out for 92 in the fourth one-day international against New Zealand in Hamilton on Thursday, slumping to their seventh-lowest ODI total and their worst in nine years.
Yuzvendra Chahal top scored for the tourists with 18 as Black Caps paceman Trent Boult ran amok taking five for 21 – the second-best figures for a New Zealander against India.
The New Zealand fast bowler was unplayable as he bowled 10 overs on the trot to finish with his fifth wicket in the 20th over, that of Hardik Pandya. Add to that the fact 12 runs came in one over when Pandya took him on, then you begin to understand how good he was after Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Boult was ably supported by Colin de Grandhomme (3/26) as the duo made perfect use of the new ball and swung it both ways to make life miserable for Indian batsmen after New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss elected to bowl.
With the series already won, India’s talismanic captain Virat Kohli sat out the dead-rubber fixture and visitors looked a different team without him, surviving only 30.5 of their allotted 50 overs.
Rohit Sharma, playing his 200th ODI, was back in the pavilion early along with Shikhar Dhawan. Debutant Shubman Gill hung around for a bit but he was out in a similar fashion to Sharma — caught and bowled by Boult. All-rounder de Grandhomme also recorded his best ODI bowling figures, and he got two wickets in one over to send Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik back without scoring a run.
Only four Indian batsnmen – Shikhar Dhawan (13), Hardik Pandya (16), Kuldeep Yadav (15) and Yuzvendra Chahal (18 not out) – posted double digit scores.
After Boult’s fiery spell, Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav stitched together the longest and highest partnership of the innings as India managed to avoid the ignominy of being bowled out for their lowest ODI total (54) of all time and against the Kiwis as well (88).
