Flattened at Oval

London, May 25 

Indian batting line-up’s soft underbelly lay exposed in slightly favourable bowling conditions as New Zealand gave a rude wake-up call to the Men In Blue,  winning their warm-up game ahead of the ICC World Cup by six wickets here today.

Under overcast conditions, Trent Boult’s (4/33 in 6.2 overs) incisive swing bowling was a test of technique for the top-order batsmen and India never recovered from an early collapse, being bowled out for 179 in 39.2 overs.

It was a walk in the park for the Black Caps as they reached the target in only 37.1 overs, with Kane Williamson (67) and Ross Taylor (71) helping themselves to half-centuries.

While it was a warm-up game and the outcome of the result isn’t something that India would be bothered too much about but what certainly would keep them worried is the failure to find a solution to their problems. KL Rahul failed at No 4, while Dinesh Karthik’s poor IPL form continued. And injuries to Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav would prevent the team management from testing them against Bangladesh in their second warm-up game at Cardiff.

The two wrist spinners — Kuldeep Yadav (0/44 in 8.1 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/37 in 6 overs), who have gone off the boil in the past few months — also didn’t make much of an impact. A sub-200 total meant that Williamson and Taylor, during their 114-run stand, hardly took a risk against the duo, getting a run-a-ball with minimum fuss. For India, Ravindra Jadeja’s decent show (54 off 50 balls and 1/27 in 7 overs) was the only silver lining.  

There was a possibility that after the IPL — played on pitches devoid of any lateral movement and conditions that didn’t aid swing bowling — the footwork would remain a touch iffy for Indian batsmen. It was Boult’s first spell, which saw openers Rohit Sharma (2) and Shikhar Dhawan (2), and No. 4 KL Rahul (6) being dismissed, that proved to be decisive in overcast conditions. The lack of footwork was evident as Boult trapped Rohit with a delivery that darted in, while Dhawan edged a delivery that had a shade more bounce. Rahul played on when Boult got one to rear up. On all three occasions, there was distinct lack of footwork.

Skipper Virat Kohli (18 off 24 balls) found his defence breached by Colin de Grandhomme’s off-cutter trying to play across the line. Jadeja’s half-century ensured a 175-plus score for the Men In Blue after being reduced to 115/8 at one stage. — PTI

SCOREBOARD
INDIA

R Sharma lbw b Boult 2

S Dhawan c Blundell b Boult 2

V Kohli b de Grandhomme 18

KL Rahul b Boult 6

H Pandya c Blundell b Neesham 30

MS Dhoni c Neesham b Southee 17

D Karthik c Sodhi b Neesham 4

R Jadeja c Guptill b Ferguson 54

B Kumar c Taylor b Neesham 1

K Yadav c & b Boult 19

M Shami not out 2

Extras (b 4, lb 8, w 12) 24

Total (all out; 39.2 ovs) 179

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-10, 3-24, 

4-39, 5-77, 6-81, 7-91, 8-115, 9-177 

Bowling

Tim Southee 7-0-26-1

Trent Boult 6.2-1-33-4

Colin de Grandhomme 6-0-12-1

Lockie Ferguson 8-0-33-1

James Neesham 6-1-26-3

Mitchell Santner 3-0-19-0

Ish Sodhi 3-0-18-0

New Zealand

M Guptill c Rahul b Pandya 22

C Munro lbw b Bumrah 4

K Williamson c Sharma b Chahal 67

R Taylor c Kohli b Jadeja 71

H Nicholls not out 15

T Blundell not out 0

Extras (lb 1) 1 

Total (4 wickets; 37.1 overs) 180 

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-37, 3-151, 4-179 

Bowling 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-27-0

Jasprit Bumrah 4-2-2-1

Mohammed Shami 4-0-16-0

Hardik Pandya 4-0-26-1

Yuzvendra Chahal 6-0-37-1

Kuldeep Yadav 8.1-0-44-0

Ravindra Jadeja 7-0-27-1