News Sports Cricket India-New Zealand ODI series: India lose match, pole position in ODI ranking

India-New Zealand ODI series: India lose match, pole position in ODI ranking

Hamilton: India  today lost the No one ODI ranking when  they suffered an agonising 15-run defeat in a rain-truncated second ODI against New Zealand, who have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series


India were left with a daunting task of chasing a revised target of 297 as per the D/L method and were again done in by a shaky start and lack of big partnerships which has been their bane of late.

Virat Kohli, who hit a century in the first ODI, again top-scored with a sparkling 78 while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56), Suresh Raina (35), Ajinkya Rahane (36) got the starts but could not translate them into match-winning knocks.

Tim Southee (4/72) was pick of the New Zealand bowlers while Anderson again displayed his all-round prowess picking up three for 67 with wickets of Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Shikhar Dhawan (12, 22 balls) and Rohit Sharma (20, 34 balls) wasted a lot of deliveries upfront as India couldn't take advantage of the bowling Powerplay.