Williamson, Boult star in Black Caps win
When your senior men and matchwinners stand up under pressure, it all seems so simple.
After Kane Williamson defied cramp in his arms and could barely lift a drink to his mouth late in his man of the match knock of 118, Trent Boult bounded in and helped finish the job with the ball in Delhi.
Iced by Tim Southee, whose yorker to Jasprit Bumrah in the final over sealed New Zealand’s six-run win in the second one-day cricket international, it was suddenly crisis averted and on to Mohali tomorrow at 1-1 with three to play.
The Black Caps hadn’t risen to third on the ODI rankings by accident. Williamson and Boult played regular starring roles and it was on them primarily to haul New Zealand out of their Indian slump after the 3-0 test series hiding and the Dharamsala batting drama.
‘‘He was extremely clever, the way he tried to swing the ball early, then made the adjustment to come around the wicket with the low bounce not to give width. He was extremely accurate and a huge reason why we got across the line,’’ Williamson said of Boult.
Defending only 242-9, against an excellent chasing team containing Virat Kohli and with evening dew making the ball slippery, the money was on India who’d won their last seven home ODIs against New Zealand stretching back to 2003.
Boult showed signs in Africa, and even in the India test series on flat ones, of being close to his lively best. After a lengthy break, then a solid base of overs under the belt, he was back and not a moment too soon.
When he dug one in from around the wicket and enticed dangerous allrounder Hardik Pandya to slap a catch to long off, in the 49th over, Boult ended with 10-2-25-2. That’s almost unheard-of in Indian ODIs.
The best part for Williamson was his team summoned a fighting performance with the ball and in the field at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
There were big moments; when Mitchell Santner strangled Kohli down the leg side to a sharp Luke Ronchi catch for nine, then when Southee took a stunning return grab to remove MS Dhoni.
The skipper was 39 off 65 and ready to launch, when Southee dived low to his right. For Southee it was also a vital game to step up, after injuries and flat spells in 2016, and he responded at the death with 3-52 off 9.2 overs.
‘‘We wanted to go out there and fight and it was one of those surfaces where scrapping was important to try and build up that pressure. With a slightly damp ball it was an extremely good effort,’’ Williamson said.
Williamson’s 128-ball innings stretched to the 43rd over as wickets tumbled around him. It was his eighth ODI century and edged his stellar average up to 47.33.