10.20 pm So the next contest will be in whites starting on February 6th. Meet you all then.
Brendon McCullum says it's probably the best series win since he's played for New Zealand. The boys worked very very hard to pull this off, especially against a tough one-day side like India. We saw Matt Henry comes in and take to it outstandingly, there was Hamish Bennett and Jimmy Neesham and the emergence of Corey Anderson as well. It's been pretty pleasing to see Kane and Ross score all those runs. In all the time I've seen him play, Ross hasn't been as good as he's looked in this series. For a guy who's young, Kane's become one of our experienced lads and has been moving from strength to strength
Throughout this series, they've played very good cricket. Their new ball pair have been very good but where they've taken the game away is in the middle overs batting which set up their charge late in the innings, picking up 80-90 runs consistently says MS Dhoni. From the talent point of view these are the players. They have to back themselves to play their strokes but the execution is what is lacking. It'll be a bigger test of character in the Test series and it will be good for our younger players
10.15 pm Ross Taylor is declared the Man of the Match. "The win cellar's clooking very good," says Taylor after back to back award. The way Williamson's batted, five fifties in a row, has done a wonderful job for us. We play different games. I scored a little quicker and then he caught up later and 300 was always going to be difficult to score. It's a good sign that the new players come in and do well. Henry has a good future after this performance. India will come back hard in the Tests and we'll be ready them but we will enjoy this victory tonight
9.45 pm Too slow a start, none of the top order, save Virat Kohli, carrying on. A brief spurt in the middle when the run-rate was already around 10 and over, but then it all fizzled out as New Zealand enjoy a terrific victory. Their bowlers were impeccably tight, especially Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum. Special praise reserved, of course, to Matt Henry, who was handed his debut on the back of a five-for in first class cricket last week and responded to the call with a four-wicket haul. No prizes for guessing the Man of the Match though, bet it's Ross Taylor for his terrific century. Presentation coming at you in a few minutes
Kashif Muneer: "The whole batting line should be held accountable for this loss. The openers were slow and built up too much pressure which you can't do chasing 300 odd. 20 off the first 10 overs is not good enough. Even Kohli who played well had 16 off 32 balls at one stage and the game was out of India's hands by then. I think Kohli and Dhoni were a bit selfish today and not thinking about what the team needed. You expect better from experienced players like them!"
Ganesh: "By now India should be playing the WC team maybe save one or two slots. I don't see Rayudu, Binny or Aaron playing the WC. Clear case for Che Pujara - need his solidity in the middle of so many "stroke makers". And maybe For Gauti and Yuvi, along with Zaheer and Irfan to be back?" Sigh
varaprasad: "Fitting delivery to end the series. The delivery is a pefect reflection of what NZ has done to India. Well done NZ. Keep it up. "
VR Aaron b Neesham 0 (3m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00