The high-scoring thriller at last came to an end and the blues made it possible with a win but not to forget how close the visitors were despite Shubman Gill’s double ton gave the Kiwis a tough target of 350 runs. In the first innings, the Indian top order hoped to survive well after the Sri Lanka dominance but it was only Shubman Gill who played till the end to give team India a tough total, which was worth defending for.
Shubman Gill became the youngest cricketer to smash a double century in the ODI format and also the 5th Indian cricketer to achieve this incredible milestone.
Talking about the second innings, Kuldeep Yadav, Shami, and most significantly Siraj made it possible as New Zealand lost 6 wickets at just 131 runs but it was Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner who kept the hopes alive. The Indians, who were primarily anticipating Latham or Conway, were taken aback by Michael’s innings after Bracewell’s incredible performance, which saw him support team New Zealand from the bottom up. After the Kiwis lost 6 wickets, Santner and Michael Bracewell put up 162 runs to turn the match in their favour. But Mitchell Santner was ultimately taken out of by Mohammed Siraj to allow India to comeback in the game.
Hardik Pandya conceded a lot of runs but managed to bowl out a tail-ender which boosted Shardul Thakur’s confidence as India need only 1 wicket to win in the last over while Bracewell was on strike with 20 more runs to claim for a win.
Bracewell smashed an astonishing six in the first delivery of the game’s last over but Shardul Thakur’s yorker delivery ultimately sealed the win for the hosts.
Against New Zealand, Gill became the first player to reach a double hundred in ODIs. The previous record for an individual score against New Zealand was the unbeaten 186 by Sachin Tendulkar at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in the same city in 1999.
Shubman Gill becomes the 5th Indian batter to score a double century in the ODI cricket. A few days ago, Ishan Kishan scored a double-ton for India in ODIs, becoming the fourth Indian to join the elite list and now Shubman Gill became the fifth one to reach this milestone. He also scored the highest individual run as Indian against New Zealand in ODIs.
Gill became the youngest player to ever score a double hundred in an ODI at the age of 23 years and 132 days. He outperformed teammate Ishan Kishan, who had scored 210 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last month at the age of 24 years and 145 days.
Together with Imam-ul-Haq, Gill reached 1000 ODI runs in 19 innings, which is the second-fastest time for a batter in the format. The previous fastest for India was 24 innings each from Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. Fakhar Zaman continues to hold the record with his one-inning faster milestone achievement.