Indian batsmen on Saturday failed to follow-up on their bowlers’ decent performance as the Men in Blue lost the second ODI against New Zealand by 22 runs at the Eden Park on Saturday. Chasing 274, none of the top-order Indian batsmen came out with a big knock as the visitors were bundled out for 251 in the 49th over, thus losing the ongoing three-match 0-2 with a game to go.

Earlier, the bowlers came out with a much improved performance in comparison to Hamilton as they restricted New Zealand to 273/8 in their allotted 50 overs. The score could have been much less had debutant pacer Kyle Jamieson not shared an unbeaten 76-run partnership with Ross Taylor for the ninth wicket.

For the Black Caps, Martin Guptill top scored with 79, followed by Taylor who contributed with an invaluable 72 runs and remained at the crease till the end of the innings.

India didn’t have a great start to their chase as Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw once again failed to impress and contributed with just 3 and 24 respectively.

Skipper Virat Kohli, who is known as the chase master, did appear to be in good form till he was bowled by a peach of a delivery by Tim Southee. It was the ninth occasion in international cricket when Tim Southee got the better of Kohli.

K.L. Rahul, who has been in great touch, couldn’t contribute much this time around and made just 4 before getting out to Colin de Grandhomme. Shreyas Iyer and Kedar Jadhav did try to steady the ship, but once they both got out after making 54 and 9, the match slipped all but out of India’s reach.

However, it was then that Navdeep Saini and Ravindra Jadeja stitched a 76-run partnership and brought the visitors back into the game. Saini was, in particular, very impressive as he took all the New Zealand bowlers to the cleaners as he scored 45 off 49 balls. He smashed 5 fours and 2 sixes and entertained the crowd before getting cleaned up by Jamieson.

Chahal did try to keep the Men in Blue in the game, but the nerves got the better of him.

Chahal got run-out in the 48th over after scoring 10. Jadeja was the last wicket to fall as he lost his wicket while trying to go for a maximum. The left-handed all-rounder top-scored for India with 55, but his efforts were not able to allow the Men in Blue to take the series into decider.

India will now face New Zealand in the dead rubber on Tuesday.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 273/8 (Martin Guptill 79, Ross Taylor 72*; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/58); India 251 all out (Ravindra Jadeja 55, Shreyas Iyer 52; Tim Southee 2/41)

Team India made it two in a row as they beat New Zealand in the Super Over after the fourth T20I between the two teams ended in a tie at the Sky Stadium on Friday. Chasing 14, K.L. Rahul started with a six off Tim Southee and that very much set the tone of the over. While Rahul (10) was dismissed off the third ball, Virat Kohli finished the game off with a boundary to the mid-wicket fence.

Earlier, it was pacer Shardul Thakur who did a Mohammed Shami as India managed to tie the game after looking all but out of the encounter at one stage. With seven needed off the last over, Shardul picked two wickets and there were two run outs as the Kiwis lost the plot completely to take the game into another Super Over.

At one stage, Colin Munro (64) and Tim Seifert (57) looked in control of the chase at the Sky Stadium, but the hosts choked for the second game in a row to give the Indians a sniff of a chance and that is all Virat Kohli and boys needed.

From a position of strength, the Kiwis ended up making a mess of the chase in the last over as they first lost Ross Taylor (24), in-form Seifert was then run out with the Kiwis needing 3 off 4 balls. The drama wasn’t over as the Kiwis then lost Daryl Mitchell before Mitchell Santner (2) was run out looking for an improbable second run off the last ball of the innings.

A target of 166 was always going to be tough to defend, but the Indian bowlers had started well, dismissing the dangerous Martin Guptill in the fifth over of the innings with the score on 22.

Munro and Seifert though combined beautifully to keep the required rate under check. But their 74-run partnership ended against the run of play when Virat Kohli hit the stumps direct as the Kiwis tried to sneak in a second. With the ball headed towards the mid-wicket boundary, Munro and Seifert looked comfortably placed to run a second.

But Shardul rather than throwing the ball directly to the keeper or bowler, passed it to Kohli at mid-wicket and the skipper hit the stumps direct at the batsman’s end as Munro was left stranded.

The dismissal in the 12th over was the first time that the Indians sniffed a chance as Yuzvendra Chahal then sent back Tom Bruce (0) in the next over. But Seifert then combined with Taylor to keep the Kiwis in a comfortable zone.

With 70 required off 50 balls, the duo got stuck into Chahal in the 15th over and picked 17 to ease the pressure. But in the end, it was another choke at the death for the New Zealand batsmen.

Earlier, New Zealand’s spinners tied the Indian batsmen in knots before Manish Pandey batted beautifully to drag India to 165/8. The hosts were without regular skipper Kane Williamson who was out with a shoulder niggle. Tim Southee led the team in his absence and did well as his spinners along with pacer Hamish Bennett (2/41) kept the Indian batsmen in check.

Ish Sodhi was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 as Mitchell Santner also bagged one wicket and conceded just 26 runs. Santner also took three great catches.

Pandey top-scored for the tourists with an unbeaten 50 off 36 deliveries, his innings laced with three fours, and shared a 43-run seventh wicket stand with Shardul Thakur (20) after India were reduced to 88/6 inside 12 overs.

Skipper Virat Kohli had promised to give his bench-warmers a run after India bagged the five-match T20I series with a thrilling Super Over win against New Zealand to take an unassailable 3-0 lead on Wednesday. And he did just that on Friday as Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini were pencilled in for Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.

Brief Scores: India: 165/8 (Manish Pandey 50; Ish Sodhi 3/26); New Zealand: 165/7 (Munro 64, Thakur 2/33)

Hitman Rohit Sharma hit a brilliant unbeaten 15 (including two sixes) in the Super Over as India chased down New Zealand’s score of 17 to win the third T20I at Seddon Park and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series on Wednesday.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson followed up his excellent 95 with an unbeaten 11 in the Super Over, but it just wasn’t enough as Rohit and K.L. Rahul (5*) took Tim Southee to the cleaners.

This after the game was tied as India pacer Mohammed Shami came up with a classic last over just when it looked like Williamson would take the Kiwis home with a batting master-class.

It is for a reason that the Indian bowling attack is considered one of the best in the world and with Jasprit Bumrah having a one-off bad day, Shami rose to the challenge and bowled a brilliant last over as New Zealand failed to score the 9 runs required despite Ross Taylor starting the over with a six.

While Shami dismissed Williamson off the third ball of the over, he cleaned up Taylor (17) off the last ball with the Kiwis needing one run to win.

Earlier, Williamson single-handedly took the game away from the Indians in the 17th of the innings – Bumrah’s third. The Kiwi skipper picked 14 from the over to bring the required rate below the 10-run mark.

Going into the 17th, New Zealand needed 43 off 24 balls. But at the end of the over, the Kiwis needed 29 from the last three overs. With Ross Taylor giving Williamson company, it was all about not doing anything reckless for the hosts.

For the Indians, their failure to grab the opportunity with the bat was followed by some poor show on the field as even someone like Ravindra Jadeja dropped a catch, not to mention quite a few misfields.

Williamson took full advantage as he ensured that he not only held one end up, but also hit the timely boundaries to keep the hosts in the game. But him getting out with the Kiwis needing 2 runs brought the visitors right back in the game as Shami bowled a couple of dot balls before sending Taylor’s stumps for a walk in the park off the last ball.

Bowling first, New Zealand paceman Hamish Bennett took three wickets to put Rohit Sharma’s half century in the background as the hosts restricted India to 179/5 in 20 overs.

Bennett (3/54) grabbed two wickets in three balls to remove Rohit, who slammed a 40-ball 65 including six fours and three sixes, and Shivam Dube (3) early on and then claimed the prized scalp of skipper Virat Kohli (38) in the 19th over as India never really got going after the initial flourish.

Manish Pandey’s 14-run cameo along with Ravindra Jadeja’s 10 off five helped India reach a defendable total in the end. This after the tourists were off to a blazing start with in-form K.L. Rahul and Rohit looking to take the Kiwi bowlers to the cleaners.

India raced to 69/0 in the first six overs and it looked like New Zealand’s ploy of asking India to bat first to blunt their strength of chasing would fall flat.

But Colin de Grandhomme’s first over of the series broke the 89-run stand as Rahul was caught at point by Colin Munro in the ninth over as he was undone by the extra bounce on offer.

All-rounder Shivam Dube was promoted up the order to No.3 to continue the onslaught but a double strike by Hamish Bennett in the 11th over meant both Rohit and Dube (3) were sent back in quick succession.

While Rohit holed out to Tim Southee at long on, Dube sliced a back of a length delivery to Ish Sodhi at third man.

Kohli took a bit of time to get going as the Kiwis held the upper hand before the Indian captain smashed a six and a four off Mitchell Santner in the 15th over which yielded 13 runs as India moved to 127/3.

Shreyas Iyer looked to heap more misery on Santner as he hit a six off his first ball in the 17th over, but the left-arm spinner had the last laugh on his home ground as he changed the pace to outsmart the batsman who was stumped by Tim Seifert.

Kohli tried to change gears but was caught at extra-cover by Southee off Bennett. India, though, made some ground in the final over as Pandey and Jadeja hit a six each to take 18 off Southee’s over.

Brief Scores: India: 179/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 65; Hamish Bennett 3/54); New Zealand: 179/6 (Kane Williamson 95); Super Over: New Zealand: 17/0; India: 20