By: Tarish Bhatt
When two of the best batsmen are in the middle there is hardly you can do as an opponent. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli crafted together a match-winning partnership to leave New Zealand reeling in the series.
Dhoni and Kohli stitched 151 runs for the third wicket. The way in which they scored runs was impressive. Dhoni, in particular, owned the Blackcaps bowlers and counterattacked when they dismissed the Indian openers.
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The Indian team won the match by seven wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Earlier, New Zealand had set a 286-run target for the hosts in Mohali, thanks to Tom Latham (61) and Jimmy Neesham (57).
Meanwhile, the Indian captain completed his 9,000 runs in ODIs. He became the third wicketkeeper-batsman and fifth Indian to reach the milestone. Dhoni also broke several records on his way to 91-ball 80. His innings featured three massive sixes and six boundaries.
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Kohli continued to dominate the Blackcaps, after Dhoni’s departure, and completed yet another century while chasing. He ensured that the Kiwis pay for dropping him when he had arrived in the middle.
There was no stopping for Kohli (154 not out) after that, and he ended up winning it for India with 10 balls to spare.
“It was a good partnership,” Manish Pandey said. “Virat played really well and when you have a player of his caliber with 80 runs to chase. When I came in, it’s just important to stay there from my perspective.”
