India v New Zealand, 4th ODI, Ranchi - Preview
The Indian team arrived in Ranchi, the hometown of captain MS Dhoni, with the hope of posting a series-deciding win against New Zealand in the fourth One-Day International at the JSCA International Stadium Wednesday (October 26).
Having established a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with a resounding seven-wicket win in Mohali, India will look to consolidate its position as the dominant force in the contest, though it does have one piece of the puzzle missing.
Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, the openers, have provided brisk starts, but they haven’t been at the batting crease for long enough, having raised opening partnerships to the tune of 49, 21 and 13. India’s middle and lower-middle order therefore, has had to bear the brunt of the workload.
The middle order delivered on a couple of occasions and when it did fail — during second ODI in Delhi — India lost the game by six runs, with the lower order punching above its weight.
It just so happened that when Dhoni promoted himself up to No. 4 for the third ODI, the lack of a big opening stand didn’t matter because the skipper made a critique-slamming 80 while Virat Kohli came up with a breathtaking 154 not out to guide India past 286 with 10 balls to spare.
Dhoni cited that the ‘result-oriented nature’ of batting at No. 5 or 6 forced him to move up the order.
It seems likely that Dhoni will continue to come in at No.4, but it’s impossible to tell for certain. Dhoni could have perhaps been more at ease with his decision had Suresh Raina been fit for the contest.
India will need to address this opening glitch and get everything else to work in sync now more than ever because New Zealand has already shown once in the series that it can stand up to the hosts. Which only means there is every chance the visiting team can do it again.
What will help New Zealand is Martin Guptill rediscovering the form that has seen him amass 10 centuries, 50 half-centuries and a career-best of 237 in ODIs. Wickets falling early for New Zealand have meant that Kane Williamson has had to come in early and dodge a tricky phase. He showed his mettle with a century in the second ODI, though he couldn't kick on in the other two games despite looking comfortable at the crease.
One of the firm positives for New Zealand since the team arrived in India in early September has been Tom Latham. The left-handed opener had scored three half-centuries in the Test series, and has got two half-centuries and a 46 from three ODIs so far. New Zealand will also feel good about Ross Taylor showing up with some runs.
Neither side has had a concern with the bowling or fielding largely, and both departments continuing to do well is to be expected. However, how both sides bat is what it will eventually come down to on a pitch that seems less likely to assist those with a ball in hand.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Amit Mishra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling (wk), Tim Southee.
