India vs New Zealand: Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme top Report Card in Kiwis' win; visitors' top-order flunk

Met with a roaring Seddon Park and a fiery Trent Boult, India, sans Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, crumbled to 35/6 and 92 all-out to concede their first defeat in the series. Blown away by Boult and Colin de Grandhomme, India barely had anything to defend with the ball and ended up losing by eight wickets. Here is our report card from the fourth ODI at Hamilton. 10/10 Trent Boult [caption id=“attachment_4154751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of New Zealand’s Trent Boult. REUTERS[/caption] With conditions aligned in his favour, Boult ran through India’s top-order in a searing spell that read 8-3-9-4 until Hardik Pandya destroyed it with a 12-run over. Boult dismissed Shikhar Dhawan early with one that angled back into him to peg India back early. He then removed Rohit Sharma and debutant Shubman Gill in identical fashion, forcing return catches off full, inswinging deliveries. Boult picked up his fourth by trapping Jadhav in front to reduce India to 35/6. He then added a fifth by sending Hardik Pandya back with a short ball in his final over and completed his ten-over spell in one burst with four maidens. Colin de Grandhomme If Boult was the enforcer, de Grandhomme was the menacing sidekick. The all-rounder returned to the side and was welcomed with conditions suiting his kind of bowling. He had made a spectacular Test debut in such helpful conditions at Christchurch against Pakistan and met with a similar surface, he was on fire again. The all-rounder removed Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik in his first over and cleaned up Bhuvneshwar Kumar later to finish with match figures of 3/26 in his quota of overs. Ross Taylor The New Zealand middle-order batsman was in the murderous mood and hit Yuzvendra Chahal for three sixes and two fours to catapult the hosts to the target really quickly. Taylor smashed 37 in 25 balls to dominate proceedings and help Kiwis make light work of India’s below-par target. 9/10 Henry Nicholls Nicholls was given a new role at the top of the order after his failings against spin in the middle overs and promptly delivered a better performance, appearing solid and stable for the Kiwis in the run chase. He played a few eye-catching shots in his innings and importantly found his rhythm back after a handful of ordinary games. 8/10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar was up against a bludgeoning Guptill early on and conceded a six and two fours in his first three balls. He made a quick comeback though, getting rid of the opener and then removing Kane Williamson in his opening burst. After conceding 14 in three balls, Bhuvneshwar gave away just 11 in his next four overs but the target was too low for him to create a bigger ruckus. 7/10 Todd Astle Brought back into the ODI side for Ish Sodhi, Astle had little to do as Boult and de Grandhomme wreaked havoc. When brought on as the partnership between Kuldeep and Chahal posed resistance, Astle removed the former by enticing him to go after him. New Zealand will want to see more of him in the final ODI. 6/10 Jimmy Neesham Neesham cleaned up Khaleel Ahmed and brought an end to India’s innings in his first over with the ball. The all-rounder had a great series against Sri Lanka before injury struck and will hope to present a fresh case in the final ODI to make it to the World Cup squad. 5/10 Kuldeep Yadav Kuldeep combined with Chahal in a 25-run partnership and was second top-scorer, but was used for just one over with the ball as New Zealand aced the run chase hardly breaking a sweat. The fact that he can hold one end up with the bat, though, is a small positive that India will want to take away. 4/10 Matt Henry Henry, who had been warming the bench, came in for Lockie Ferguson, and appeared a bit rusty in his opening burst even as Boult tormented the Indians. He came back against the lower order to better his figures. Henry will hope he gets another chance to impress in the final ODI. Hardik Pandya Pandya looked to put Boult under pressure by counter-attacking him with back to back boundaries down the ground. However, a clever Boult outsmarted him by mixing up his variations and pushing in a bumper next over. Pandya’s heroics had taken India to some respectability from a similar situation in the Champions Trophy final but that was not to be this time around. 3/10 Shikhar Dhawan Dhawan kicked off his innings in typical fashion, driving Matt Henry through the covers for four before upper-cutting him for six a ball later. He was a tad fidgety against a pumped-up Trent Boult and soon enough fell over on the flick to be trapped in front. Martin Guptill Guptill started New Zealand’s innings in style, smoking Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six off the first ball of the run chase. He followed it up with back to back fours but was out next ball, popping a leading edge to backward point. With a low target to chase down, Guptill’s mini-cameo pegged Bhuvneshwar back early but he would have liked it to last longer. 2/10 Yuzvendra Chahal Chahal was the top-scorer for India with the bat and played out the most number of balls, showcasing better composure than some of the top-order batsmen. But he came a cropper with the ball as Taylor blasted him for three sixes. Chahal gave away 32 runs at an economy of 12 with 29 of those coming against Taylor. Khaleel Ahmed In his first game in the series, Khaleel had conditions favouring swing but was faced with a confident bunch of New Zealand batsmen and a very low target to defend. He leaked 19 in his three overs and went wicketless but will hope to make an impact at Wellington over the weekend. Shubman Gill The 19-year-old’s debut was much awaited by Indian fans and he showed class and finesse in his short stay at the crease. Caught in the midst of a whirlwind at Seddon Park, which saw his teammates being swept away by the Kiwi bowlers, Gill coped a blow on his head and soon returned a catch to Boult much like Rohit Sharma. He will face another audition at Wellington on Sunday. Kane Williamson The New Zealand skipper has played some uncharacteristic shots this series and in a continuation of the trend, he poked at Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s length ball outside off-stump to edge behind for eleven. With the World Cup approaching, New Zealand will want their skipper firing on all cylinders. 1/10 Rohit Sharma The Indian opener isn’t the best of players when the ball does a bit and with Boult finding late swing and movement, Rohit was happy defending. The Kiwi seamer, though, brought an end to Rohit’s resistance when he had him chipping back a catch off a full, swinging delivery. With just seven off 23, Rohit once again reiterated he is no bankable batsman when the ball moves around. Ambati Rayudu With India two down for 23 and a debutant at one end, Rayudu ought to have played himself in at Seddon Park but instead went for an expansive drive in the air in Colin de Grandhomme’s first over and offered a catch to short cover to depart for a duck. It was a great opportunity for the No 4 batsman to underline his value in building an innings but he threw it away in a moment of madness. Dinesh Karthik Like Rayudu, Karthik had a golden chance to seal his spot in the playing XI but edged de Grandhomme to the keeper for a two-ball duck. While his skills as a finisher are well acknowledged, India would have wanted to know whether Karthik was reliable in arresting a collapse. Sadly, he refused to bide his time at the wicket and played a nothing shot to get out. Kedar Jadhav The inswinger from Boult proved to be the nemesis for another Indian batsman as Jadhav played all around a full, swinging delivery to be trapped in front. With no MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, India sorely needed a senior player like Jadhav to hold one end up but he let go of the chance as India crumbled to 35/6. *Tom Latham, Mitchell Santner weren’t rated owing to their minimal role in the match. Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor