Hamilton: India lost to New Zealand by 15 runs in a rain-curtailed second one-day match here on Saturday and now trail the five-match series by 0-2. In the process, the World Champions were also dethroned from as the number one ODI, the position which they had held since last year.
India, however, did make a valiant effort to overhaul the revised target of 297 in 42 overs but failed to make the target, scoring 277 for nine in 41.3 overs. Australia now replaces India as the numero uno team in ICC ODI rankings.
After being asked to bat first by India, the Kiwis scored 271 for seven, thanks to some fantastic batting from Kane Williamson (76) and Corey Anderson (17-ball-44).
After rain interruption, India were left with a daunting task of chasing a revised target of 297 as per the D/L method and were again done in by a shaky start and lack of big partnerships which has been their bane of late.
Virat Kohli, who hit a century in the first ODI, again top-scored with a sparkling 78 while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56), Suresh Raina (35), Ajinkya Rahane (36) got the starts but could not translate them into match-winning knocks.
Tim Southee (4/72) was pick of the New Zealand bowlers while Anderson again displayed his all-round prowess picking up three for 67 with wickets of Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shikhar Dhawan (12, 22 balls) and Rohit Sharma (20, 34 balls) wasted a lot of deliveries upfront as India couldn't take advantage of the bowling Powerplay.
