Player of the Match
Player of the Match

So with players' views coming in, we are done with our coverage of the fourth ODI. On Saturday, a day before Diwali, this series will witness its decider, in Vizag. There has been wretched news of rain threatening that match, but here is hoping we have an uninterrupted decider. This has been an excellent series so far. Thanks for joining us today

"It certainly is a great feeling," says Martin Guptill, Man of the Match. "To put up a performance myself and give the team a defendable total is satisfying. We thought we could have got more but it was a defendable total. It came down to our bowlers to do the job, and they did. Virat Is a class player and to get him early was a big step."

"Absolutely happy and proud," says Kane Williamson. "What we wanted was build partnerships. It was not an easy surface. Although you always want more, 260 was not a bad effort on that surface. Coming here, we had to decide between dew that may or may not come in versus the deterioration. The dew didn't come in, so that perhaps worked in our favour. Tough decisions to drop Anderson and Ronchi. We have played on different surfaces so that affects selection. Also it has been a long tour. It's exciting to go 2-2; India is a great side, it is exciting to go level into the final match."

"I think it was the first 10 where we gave away a lot of runs and the extras,". says MS Dhoni. "I think we could have still chased 260 if we had wickets in hand. Quite similar to Delhi where we kept losing wickets. The wicket was best to bat on in the afternoon, and it kept getting slower and slower. The new ball under lights still came on but as it got older it became difficult. The Nos 5 and 6 are quite new, they will learn their own way. Some will play big shots, some will take it deep. Once they have played 15-20 games, they will figure out what works for them. Cricket has changed, people like to play big shots. It is important to not tell them to stop playing the shots; you don't want them to go into their shells. They played their shots when the ball was in their area. They will learn after they have played 15-20 games. Usually there is dew at this time of the year, and in Indian cricket the moment you talk about dew you want to bowl first. We will have to be at our best in the decider."

9.20pm This win has "New Zealand" written all over it. They are technically not as good as India in these conditions, but what they do well is read the conditions excellently and have the tactics spot on. They saw a dry pitch, picked three spinners, batted first despite the prospect of dew, and went hammer and tongs in the first 10 overs knowing the spinners would be very difficult to get away once the balls grow older. Their start was perhaps a bit better than even they would have expected, which is what would have left them disappointed with just 260 on board, but once they crossed 230 you knew this was going to be a tight chase

In response the New Zealand spinners - bar Santner didn't start that well - and the Rahane-Kohli partnership seemed to be running away with it. However, once Sodhi got Kohli out, New Zealand put the squeeze on. Wickets came regularly, the batsmen didn't seem prepared to take it deep, and New Zealand fielders were excellent when the batsmen took undue risks. Just a really canny team effort in what Santner says was "a scrap". And New Zealand love it when you make it a bit of a scrap. Do hang around for the presentation

48.4
W
Boult to Yadav, OUT, and a big wind-up it is but the slower ball has been mis-hit straight to extra cover to level the series. Boult just too good for No. 11 with that asking rate that high. Slower, on a length, and it has been sliced

UT Yadav c Taylor b Boult 7 (26m 12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 58.33

Yadav on strike. Expect a big wind-up

48.3
1
Boult to Kulkarni, 1 run, short, at the stumps, he backs away to run it down to third man for one

SG: "Like that the crowd are still staying in, shows the change in people enjoying the game and not about just winning. 10 years ago I would've switched off the TV like an hour ago."

48.2
1
Boult to Yadav, 1 run, slower ball, full, driven hard, but straight to long-off. Gets just the single

Two a ball required now

48.1
1
Boult to Kulkarni, 1 run, into the wicket, short of a length, cut to third man for one

Southee's over - just four runs - has now brought it up to 23 off 12. India need a boundary early in this over. They have Nos 10 and 11 at the wicket. New Zealand inching closer

Boult round the wicket

END OF OVER:
48 | 4 Runs | IND: 238/9 (23 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.95, RRR: 11.50)

  • Dhawal Kulkarni23 (24b)
  • Umesh Yadav6 (10b)
  • Tim Southee9-0-40-3
  • Trent Boult9-1-45-1
47.6
1
Southee to Kulkarni, 1 run, Southee stays short and slow, pulled to deep midwicket for a single

So now three men deep on the leg side. Slower ball coming up. Mid-off should be his zone

47.5
1
Southee to Yadav, 1 run, slower short ball, offcutter too, pulled away, and gets just the single off the top half of the bat

Excellent over so for for NZ

47.4
1
Southee to Kulkarni, 1 run, Southee bowls full pace, at 131ks, Kularkni sees it in his half, drives hard, but gets just the single to mid-off

Mid-off is up

47.3
0
Southee to Kulkarni, no run, another offcutter. On a length, outside off, turning towards off, pushed to the left of Southee who deflects it to short straight cover
47.2
0
Southee to Kulkarni, no run, still the slower offcutter, but not as short as the last one. Pushed to midwicket inside the circle

Midwicket comes in for Kulkarni. What's the plan now?

47.1
1
Southee to Yadav, 1 run, yes it is an offcutter first ball. Pulled away to deep square leg for one

When these two came together India needed 54. They have cut the deficit by half. India need 27 now. At 9 an over. Southee will bowl two of these overs. Three men deep on the leg side. Expect offcutters

END OF OVER:
47 | 8 Runs | IND: 234/9 (27 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.97, RRR: 9.00)

  • Dhawal Kulkarni21 (20b)
  • Umesh Yadav4 (8b)
  • Trent Boult9-1-45-1
  • Mitchell Santner10-0-38-1
46.6
0
Boult to Kulkarni, no run, angling in, on a length, keeps it out, but can't beat point

Back round the wicket

46.5
4
Boult to Kulkarni, FOUR, this keeps India alive. Length ball, pitches outside off and angling further away. He slashes at it with an open face, and it flies past the diving fielder at point for four

Back over the wicket

46.5
1w
Boult to Kulkarni, 1 wide, slower ball, wide down the leg side. Rare loose ball
46.4
1
Boult to Yadav, 1 run, on a length, at the off stump, defended towards mid-off for a single
46.3
1
Boult to Kulkarni, 1 run, into the wicket again, there isn't much pace to work with, and he can only guide it to third man for a single
46.2
0
Boult to Kulkarni, no run, short of a length, at the stumps, the fielder at point is some way in to cut the single

With Boult the big shot is a big risk. He is very accurate

46.1
1
Boult to Yadav, 1 run, length ball, accurate, Yadav defends for a single into the covers

Both the main spinners have bowled out. That leaves Southee and Boult to finish off. Boult goes round the wicket

END OF OVER:
46 | 7 Runs | IND: 226/9 (35 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 4.91, RRR: 8.75)

  • Dhawal Kulkarni16 (16b)
  • Umesh Yadav2 (6b)
  • Mitchell Santner10-0-38-1
  • Ish Sodhi10-1-52-1
45.6
0
Santner to Kulkarni, no run, slower through the air, a yorker too, dug out
45.5
4
Santner to Kulkarni, FOUR, short and wide, he has dragged down the quicker ball, which has been cut away for four through point
45.4
0
Santner to Kulkarni, no run, slows it down, gets some bite, he opens the face to guide it to short third man
45.3
0
Santner to Kulkarni, no run, yorks him, and all he can do is plays this back to Santner

And now you see the dew affecting them

45.2
1
Santner to Yadav, 1 run, short, cut away to deep cover
45.1
1
Santner to Kulkarni, 1 run, swept away, inside edge, gets a single to deep square
45.1
1w
Santner to Kulkarni, 1 wide, lobbed up wide outside off, just a touch too wide

END OF OVER:
45 | 9 Runs | IND: 219/9 (42 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 4.86, RRR: 8.40)

  • Dhawal Kulkarni11 (11b)
  • Umesh Yadav1 (5b)
  • Ish Sodhi10-1-52-1
  • Mitchell Santner9-0-31-1
44.6
1
Sodhi to Kulkarni, 1 run, wrong'un, reads it off the pitch, goes back to work it into the leg side. Just a touch too short

First loss in Ranchi

0

No. of ODIs India had lost in Ranchi, before this. They had played 2 and had won chasing both of them. They failed to chase this time.

New Zealand's comeback

98

India's score before the fall of second wicket. New Zealand have taken six wickets for 69 runs since then.

Rahane gets going

66

No. of runs accumulated by Rahane in the first three ODIs of this series - 33, 28, 5. He has got to a fifty today.

Lucky Ground

216

Number of runs scored by Kohli in ODIs in Ranchi, before this match. He made 77* vs Eng in 2012-13 and 139* vs SL in 2014-15, both while chasing.

spinners' impact

3.82

Economy of India spinners in this match - 107 runs in 28 overs. The fast bowlers went at 6.81 - 150 runs in 22 overs.

Prolific Mishra

10

No. of wickets for Mishra in this series. No other bowler has taken more than 6 wkts in the series so far. His figures: 3/49, 3/60, 2/46, 2/41.

Opening Woes

1

Number of instances since March 2012 when New Zealand have had a 100+ opening stand in ODIs. In 49 innings they average 30. Today they added 96.