🏏New Zealand Tour of India 2026: 2nd ODI: At Rajkot on 14/01/26 D/N🏏 - Page 8

Crisis batter KL Rahul scored a century in most adverse situation! One of the best innings we've witnessed.

Congratulations.

Wow..calm and composed just did ben stokes

Foulkes to Rahul, FOUR, with mid-off inside the circle, that's a poor ball. 129.2kph, fullish delivery outside off and Rahul clears his front leg to biff it over mid-off. Rahul is livid, he was probably eyeing a maximum

Foulkes to Rahul, FOUR, edged and four! 130.3kph, very full outside off, Rahul goes after it and the outside edge goes fine of short third man before running away to the fence. 12 runs off the final over.

IND 284-7(50)

CRR:5.68

Innings Break

Congratulations to KL Rahul for his century.

India

(50 ov) 284/7

New Zealand

New Zealand chose to field.

Current RR: 5.68

• Last 5 ov (RR): 45/2 (9.00)

Rahul raises his bat before walking off. He's played a classy knock and helped his team post a good total on the board. All the four previous ODIs at this venue were won by teams batting first. New Zealand, however, opted to field. Jamieson got the new ball to hoop around and started with back-to-back maidens. After a watchful start, the Indian openers struck a flurry of boundaries to score 57 runs at the end of the first powerplay without losing a wicket. Rohit failed to convert his start but Kohli got going with a cover drive and Gill looked fluent as he notched up a 47-ball fifty. Things looked rosy for the hosts. That's when Jamieson returned to remove Gill and India stuttered after that. The bowling was tight, the pitch slowed down a bit, no boundary was hit for 10 overs and India slipped from 99/1 to 118/4 losing Gill, Shreyas and Kohli. Rahul and Jadeja joined hands to steady the ship. They batted with minuscule risk and forged a crucial 73-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bracewell broke that partnership against the run of play as he took a sharp catch to dismiss Jadeja. Rahul, however, was hungry for more. He upped the ante after the second drinks break and paced his innings superbly

Rohit once again failed to convert his start, but the groundwork had been laid. Gill brought up a classy half-century before Jamieson struck to remove him, forcing India into another rebuilding phase. A prolonged boundary drought followed, almost for ten overs, and Kristian Clarke was rewarded for his discipline. The loss of Iyer and a well-set Kohli saw India slip from 79/1 to 118/4. With the seamers getting the ball to nip around and Bracewell exploiting the turn on offer, and choking the scoring effectively. India were in desperate need of momentum and, more importantly, a way to halt the slide. That stability came through a calm, measured stand between the experienced duo of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. The scoring rate never quite took off, hovering under 5s, but the pair did what the situation demanded, stitching together a 73-run partnership to steady the innings before Jadeja departed against the run of play.

A 57-run partnership between Rahul and Nitish then kept the innings afloat for India, with the former scoring a fluent and valiant century as well. And when India needed that final act of acceleration, KL Rahul switched the gears in the final few overs and propelled India to a rather respectable total of 284. Honestly, at one stage, it didn't look achievable at all. Bowling-wise, New Zealand were not at all poor given how inexperienced this bowling lineup may look on paper. If we look at the distribution, interestingly, all the pacers conceded more than run-a-ball, but accounted for the most wickets. Whereas spinners, in their combined effort of 23 overs, were miserly, giving away only 89 runs, sharing just two scalps.

Righto, India end up with 284 for 7, which I feel is a par total on a two-paced Rajkot pitch. India started well, with Gill and Rohit adding 70 for the opening wicket in 12.2 overs. Gill reached his fifty, but India lost wickets in a cluster with Kristian Clarke removing Rohit, Iyer and Kohli. Rahul, however, held his own. He started slowly, but upped his tempo and then reached his century in style. Can New Zealand chase this down? Find out in a bit.

It's not a bad total, but india could have done better if top order has been a little careful with their wickets. Let's see how NZ takes this forward!