Daily Times

INDORE: Shubman Gill and captain Rohit Sharma led the way with explosive centuries as India beat New Zealand by 90 runs to clinch a 3-0 ODI series clean sweep. After racking up 385-9 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, India bowled out their opponents for 295, and Tuesday’s victory lifts them above England to the top of the ICC ODI team rankings. Gill, who hit a double hundred in the first match, shared in a stand of 212 with Rohit for the first wicket on Tuesday, the fifth-largest ODI partnership by an India opening pair. After setting the tone for the contest as both openers reached three figures, Rohit was bowled by Michael Bracewell for 101 from 85 balls at the start of the 27th over, while Gill went soon after for a 78-ball 112 when he got a leading edge to present Blair Tickner (3-76) with the first of his three wickets.

Gill totalled 360 runs across the three games, matching Babar Azam’s record for the most scored in a three-match bilateral men’s ODI series. Virat Kohli added 36 and Hardik Pandya weighed in with 54 before becoming the third victim of Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand paceman who returned conspicuous figures of 3-100. Devon Conway’s heroics in New Zealand’s reply were in vain, as he cracked 138 from 100 balls before being caught by Rohit at midwicket when looking to pull Umran Malik away to the boundary. Conway blazed eight sixes in his terrific counter-attack but lacked support. Once he became the sixth Black Caps batter to be dismissed, with the score on 230, the tourists’ hopes were all but over, and the innings inevitably petered out.

Holkar a happy home for India: India preserved their 100 per cent record in ODIs at the stadium in Indore, which was staging such a match for just the sixth time. This is the most matches they have won at any venue in ODIs without losing, beating the five wins and one tie they have had at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. This India team are in a rich vein of ODI form, wherever they play, having won all six of their matches in 2023, with this success improving what was already their best winning run to begin a calendar year.

Duffy’s sorry century: Duffy’s figures of 3-100 made him just the third New Zealand bowler to concede 100 or more runs in a men’s ODI, after Martin Snedden (2-105 vs England in 1983) and Tim Southee (0-105 vs India in 2009). Duffy’s three wickets, however, gave him the most victims of any bowler to have conceded a century of runs in such a match.