From run-fest to spicy feast: A tale of two 113s in Wellington

India’s Virat Kohli scores 7 runs during Game 2 of the One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and India in Wellington, New Zealand. AP/PTI WELLINGTON: Cricket can surprise you in more ways than one and the low-scoring thriller at the Hnry Stadium on Saturday was a classic example. About a week ago, in the third T20I, Abhishek Sharma (113) scored more in a run-fest than the rest of the team combined. In the second ODI of the five-match series, India produced 113 runs in a rain-restricted contest. The difference between the two 113s was Abhishek batting off just 38 balls as India struggled against the hostile bowling of Kyle Jamieson & Co.The weather played its part and spiced up the catchment area, but the real difference was the intensity with which the home side hit in modest run defence. It looked like a comfortable 135-run chase at the halfway point, but one bouncer after another, the home side turned it into a real bat-to-ball contest.India played some free strokes and exposed the techniques of many batsmen against sustained fire from both sides.Shubman Gill departed early, Virat Kohli played a loose shot, Rohit Sharma fought back but again played a rash shot and then came the final shot as Axar Patel, who came in at No.5, kept finding a way out.

Calling Axar

The match was sensitively placed when Rohit was dismissed in the ninth over but the management insisted on Axar instead of sending a special batsman like KL Rahul. India had claimed that Axar would be their preferred option to break the right-handed monotony in the batting line-up, but sending him ahead of Rahul on the Test pitch was where India missed a trick, raising questions about whether the left-hander is the right choice for the number.The move worked on slow and turning pitches during the Champions Trophy in Dubai and will help when the spinners are fielded in tandem, but it felt like a stretch in the second ODI. Axar was littered with short stuff and he just looked to get out of trouble. He perished on a similar tackle in the series opener, and a similar intent pulled his match down midway through the curtain call.Even as the wickets fell and the pressure mounted, Rahul rode the bounce, controlled his moves and looked calm while others in both teams looked clueless. At short, Shreyas Iyer fought with fire but another well-driven short delivery resulted in the Indian vice-captain’s wicket.

India’s KL Rahul bats during Game 2 of the One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and India in Wellington, New Zealand. AP/PTI

It was a similar story in the first innings as Gurnoor Brar and Co. served similar treatment to New Zealand and the hosts also looked out to sea in testing conditions.Two innings made the last international feel like an anomaly. 397 runs were scored in 33.2 overs during that sixathon on October 27 and Iyer’s words in the post-match interaction make so much sense after witnessing what we saw today.“When Sanju and I went to bat, the ball was bending and I was like, how did they do it? It was just amazing,” Iyer said when asked about India’s attack.The visitors managed 100 runs in five overs and the pair of Abhishek and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked New Zealand, where three bowlers from the ODI line-up presented themselves, looking pedestrian. Truly stunning!Yes, the weather helped, but it also underlines how special Abhishek’s 113 was compared to India’s poor work today.

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Share an opinionBrief results: New Zealand 134/10 in 41 overs (Daryl Mitchell 55, Mitchell Santner 31; Gurnoor Brar 4-30, Anshul Kamboj 2-25) lost to India 113-7 in 26 overs (Shreyas Iyer 30, 263 KL Jacob-63 Jauff Rahul 3-35) by 4 runs by DLS.