Ross Taylor, Tom Latham lead New Zealand to victory over Board President’s XI
Ross Taylor and Tom Latham slammed brilliant hundreds as New Zealand defeated Board President’s XI in the second warm-up encounter in Mumbai.
Ross Taylor and Tom Latham both scored unbeaten centuries as New Zealand defeated the Indian Board President’s XI by 33 runs in the second warm-up match in Mumbai on Thursday. It was a good comeback from the Kiwis after the visitors were defeated by 30 runs in their first encounter.
After putting up a massive total of 343 for 9, Mitchell Santner (3 for 44) and Colin Munro (2 for 25) claimed wickets in heap to put New Zealand on course of a big win at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The hosts were bowled out for 310 in 47.1 overs.
However, the Kiwis faced stiff resistance from the ninth-wicket pair of Jaydev Unadkat (44) and Dhawal Kulkarni (24) who added 64 runs to take the Indian side close towards the end.
Karun Nair’s 53 and Gurkeerat Mann’s 65 were also not enough for the Indian Board President’s XI. The middle-order failed to put runs again, with skipper Shreyas Iyer (24) and Rishabh Pant (7) failing for the second time on the trot, whereas Milind Kumar managing a mere 3.
With no KL Rahul in the mix, Nair opened with Prithvi Shaw. The Kiwis were disciplined with their line and lengths, and the batsmen had to wait for rare lose balls to get runs.
It was in the eighth over when Nair provided his team some momentum, getting as many as four boundaries against Colin de Grandhomme to shrug off a slow start. Shaw, on the other hand, was forced to take risks in order to get boundaries.
However, an early introduction of spin provided rich dividends as Santner struck twice in his first two overs.
Shaw was cleaned up by Santner for 22, and the Kiwi spinner caused further damage when he got Pant caught for 7 in his next over. Pant went for an ambitious stroke despite hitting a six earlier in the over, only to be caught by Munro in the deep.
Iyer and Nair teamed up to bail the Indian team out of trouble, adding 57 for the third wicket. But once again, the home team lost wickets in a clump. Iyer was caught at deep midwicket by Taylor for 24, and on the next ball of the 21st over, Nair played it straight into the hands of the bowler.
Gurkeerat and Karn Sharma put up the biggest stand of 71 runs, for the seventh wicket, but just when they started picking up pace, the partnership was broken. Karn was caught at mid-on for 19, which pushed the home team on backfoot again.
A few deliveries later, Gurkeerat’s mishit landed in the hands of Munro at mid-on. Gurkeerat did well to score a 46-ball 65 with seven fours and three sixes with powerful strokes around the park.
Unadkat led the fightback with a quickfire 44, off only 24 balls studded with five boundaries and three sixes. He was the star performer for the home side with a spell of 4 for 57 earlier in the day.
Earlier, Taylor and Latham’s centuries and their 166-run stand for the fourth wicket powered New Zealand to a strong total of 343 for 9. Both the batsmen retired out after scoring their respective centuries.
New Zealand seemed to have lost their way after a brisk start, but Taylor took charge of the proceedings along with Latham. Starting with a four off an outside edge to graduating to powerful strokes, Taylor’s innings was decorated with 14 boundaries and 1 six. Yet, his innings was a stark contrast to the one he played on Tuesday, scoring 32 off 54 balls with only one four.
The only blip in Taylor’s characteristic innings came in the 32nd over when the home team captain Shreyas Iyer spilled a catch at point off Karn when he was on 77.
Latham, who had top-scored with 59 in the last match, made a fluent 108 retired out -- an innings wherein he played second fiddle to Taylor during their stand. Latham finished with seven boundaries and two sixes, off 97 balls.
The fourth wicket partnership between Taylor and Latham remained unbeaten on 166, as having completed his century, the former retired out to give Henry Nicholls a chance having scored 102 off 83 balls.
The three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand begins October 22 at Mumbai.
New Zealand have made one forced change to their ODI squad, replacing the injured Todd Astle with Ish Sodhi.
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