Kohli, Dhoni lead India to series win
BANGALORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni bailed India out with an unbroken 96run stand that took the hosts to a five-wicket victory in the second and final test for a clean sweep in the series against New Zealand on Monday.
Off-spinner Jeetan Patel picked up three wickets and India were reduced to 166 for five at one stage, chasing 261 for victory, before Kohli (51 not out) and Dhoni (48 not out) came together to guide their team home.
The 23-year-old Kohli, who made 103 in the first innings, defended resolutely at the start, became more fluent as his innings progressed and got to his half century with three boundaries in an over off paceman Tim Southee. “It was a tricky situation when I went in to bat,” Kohli, voted man of the match, said
But we both decided that we will take it 10 runs at a time and try to see the team through and the plan worked for us
during the presentation ceremony. “But we both decided that we will take it 10 runs at a time and try to see the team through and the plan worked for us.
“My natural game is to be positive. But I need to control my shots every now and then. I thought through out the test match that I need to be more pa- tient and I need to apply myself more.“I had a plan in my mind and luckily it worked for me.”
Captain Dhoni was the more attacking of the two and finished the match with a boundary and a six in consecutive balls off Patel to spark the celebrations.
Patel looked the most dangerous of the New Zealand bowlers and extracted sharp turn and bounce off the pitch at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. India, who won the first test in Hyderabad by an innings and 115 runs, lost the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar (27), Cheteshwar Pujara (48) and Suresh Raina (0) after tea.
Youngster Pujara and veteran Tendulkar survived some nervy moments after the loss of openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in quick succession and added 69 for the third wicket.
Tendulkar was once again bowled for the third time in as many innings in the series while Daniel Flynn ran backwards at short leg to pull off a superb bat-pad catch off Patel to dismiss Pujara.