Ranchi ODI: New Zealand level series with 19-run win over India

New Zealands bowler James Neesham C celebrates with his teammates after he dismissed Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the fourth ODI match at The Jharkhand State Cricket Association JSCA stadium complex in Ranchi on Wednesday PicAFPRanchiFast bowlers Tim Southee and James Neesham ran through Indias middle order to help New Zealand to a 19run serieslevelling win in the fourth oneday international Ranchi on Wednesday Southee 340 and Neesham 238 shared five wickets between them to bowl out India who were in pursuit of their 261run target for 241 runs in 484 overs The fifth and final game of the series is slated for Saturday in VisakhapatnamNew Zealand captain Kane Williamson congratulates batsman Martin Guptill on his half century during 4th ODI Match against India in Ranchi on Wednesday PicPTIEarlierMartin Guptill struck a fluenthalfcentury but New Zealand failed to seize the momentum asIndian spinners did well to restrict them to a modest 260 for7 in the penultimate ODI cricket match of the fivematchseries on WednesdayOpting to bat New Zealand were off to their best starton the tour with Guptill slamming an 84ball72 studded with12 boundariesAlong with Tom Latham 39 from 40 balls 4x4 he laid asolid foundation putting together 96 from 93 balls for theopening wicket before leftarm spinner Axar Patel 138 gavethe muchneeded breakthrough after a lacklustre performance bythe seamersGuptill looked in full flow and completed his 31st ODIfifty from 56 balls but Hardik Pandya ended the threatinducing a thin edge of the Kiwi opener midway into theirinningsWith 1842 after 35 overs and a set Kane Williamson inthe middle New Zealand were still in sight of 300 But AmitMishra 241 took the crucial wickets of Williamson 41 from59 balls 4x4 and James Neesham 6 in successive overs toderail the visitors gameplanWilliamson was foxed by the bounce and took an edge toDhoni while Neeshams mistime found Kohli at cover as Indiadid well to arrest their progressPatel returned with tidy figures of 1 for 38 from hisquota while parttime offspinner Kedar Jadhav returnedwicketless but conceded just 27 runs from his eight overs toput brakes on New Zealands brisk startTeam India celebrates the fall of a Kiwi wicketduring 4th ODI Match against India in Ranchi on Wednesday PicPTIKiwi skipper Williamson not only read the coin rightlyfor the first time in the series after three Tests and threeODIs but he also read the pitch perfectly and opted to bat ona slow pitch with variable bounceHaving started off with a maiden India courtesy Kulkarnileaked 16 runs in the second over a trend that continued tillthe powerplay with Guptill and Latham batting with easeagainst some lacklustre bowling by the seamersBrought in place of an indisposed Jasprit Bumrah in thesolitary change to India XI Kulkarni bowled full on a slowsurface and Guptill having assessed the condition in thefirst over hit three exquisite boundaries to start offYadav bowled with pace but the accuracy was missing andoften was wayward down the leg trying to get across the lineagainst the lefthanded Latham to a packed offside fieldThe left and right hand easily dissected the field withboundaries all around the wikcet and Dhoni continued with thispair for 10 overs before Mishra and Patel were brought inFrom 80 without loss in 10 overs the spin duos tightbowling brought the runrate down before Patel gave thebreakthrough denying Latham 39 a sixth fifty on this tourThe lefthander took a top edge while trying for a slogsweep to a width deliery before Rahane took the catch at shortfine legBrief ScoresNew Zealand 2607 in 50 overs Martin Guptil 72 KaneWilliamson 41 Amit Mishra 241India 241 all out in 484 overs Ajinkya Rahane 57Virat Kohli 45 Tim Southee 340TeamsIndia Mahendra Singh Dhoni capt Virat Kohli Ajinkya Rahane Rohit Sharma Manish Pandey Kedar Jadhav Axar Patel Hardik Pandya Amit Mishra Umesh Yadav Dhawal KulkarniNew Zealand Kane Williamson capt Martin Guptill Tom Latham Ross Taylor Corey Anderson BJ Watling Anton Devcich Mitchell Santner Tim Southee Trent Boult IshSodhi