A brilliant batting display guided India to 324/4 against New Zealand in the second contest of the five-match series at the Bay Oval here on Saturday.
The entire top order of the visitors clicked against the hosts to help India put a challenging total against the Kiwis. Opener Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were the top contributors with individual scores of 87 and 66 respectively.
Opting to bat, India were off to a perfect start, thanks to the openers, who forged a crucial 154 runs for the first wicket before Kiwi pacer Trent Boult gave some relief to his side, dismissing Dhawan in the 26th over.
Lockie Ferguson struck soon, packing back a well-settled Rohit with India’s scorecard reading 172/2.
Skipper Virat Kohli (43) and Ambati Rayudu (47) were then involved in a 64-run partnership for the third wicket. Boult gave the visitors a major blow as a thick edge off Kohli was caught at fine-led by Ish Sodhi.
Rayudu was then joined by Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 not out) as the two steadily lifted India near the 300-run mark before the former fell to Ferguson in the 46th over.
Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s (22 not out off 10 balls) fireworks then accelerated the run-rate, taking India to a good total of 324/4 in the allotted 50 overs.
For New Zealand, Boult and Ferguson picked two wickets each, conceding 61 and 81 runs respectively.
Brief score: India 324/4 (Rohit Sharma 87, Shikhar Dhawan 66, Tent Boult 2/61) vs India