Raipur: Team India maintained their fantastic winning streak at home, sealing their seventh consecutive ODI series triumph thanks to an 8-wicket romp in the second match of the series against New Zealand here on Saturday.
The last time the men in blue came out second-best in a home bilateral ODI series was against Australia, in March 2019.
Choosing to bowl first, after Rohit Sharma took his time on winning the toss, the Indian pacers were on fire from the word go. Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj dealt the early blows, and were soon joined by Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur as the home team reduced the Black Caps to a sorry 15/5.
Not even Michael Bracewell, whose brilliant power hitting gave India a big fright in the series opener, could pull New Zealand out of a hole this time.
Glenn Phillips top-scored with 36, while 8 batters fell for single-digit scores as New Zealand were skittled out for 108 in the 35th over.
Rohit came out all guns blazing, stroking his way to 51 off 50 balls. Shubman Gill, fresh from his double century in the first ODI, remained unbeaten on 40 as India achieved the target with nearly 30 overs to spare.
Brief scores: New Zealand 108 all out in 34.3 overs (Glenn Phillips 36; Mohammad Shami 3/18, Hardik Pandya 2/16, Washington Sundar 2/7). India 111/2 in 20.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 51, Shubman Gill 40 not out).
Result: India won by 8 wickets.
Series: India unbeatable 2-0 lead:
Final ODI: At Indore on Jan 24.
TEAM INDIA’S ODI WINNING STREAK ON HOME SOIL
* Beat West Indies 2-1 in 2019-20
* Beat Australia 2-1 in 2019-20
* Beat England 2-1 in 2020-21
* Beat West Indies 3-0 in 2021-22
* Beat South Africa 2-1 in 2022-23
* Beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in 2022-23
* Lead New Zealand 2-0 in 2022-23.
