Dominant India complete 3-0 sweep against New Zealand

INDORE, India: Powered by centuries from openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India beat New Zealand by 90 runs on Tuesday to win the third one-day international and sweep the series.

Gill scored 112 runs off 78 balls and Sharma struck 101 off 85 as India piled up 385-9 in 50 overs.

In reply, Devon Conway scored 138 off 100 but it wasn’t enough as New Zealand were bowled out for 295 runs in 41.2 overs at Holkar Cricket Stadium. Shardul Thakur (3-45) and Kuldeep Yadav (3-62) did most of the damage.

The Black Caps lost the three-match series 3-0. India won the first ODI in Hyderabad by 16 runs and the second ODI in Raipur by eight wickets.

Put in to bat, the Indian openers shared an impressive stand of 212 runs in 26.1 overs.

It was the highest first-wicket partnership in ODIs against New Zealand, exceeding 201 runs by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for India in 2009.

Sharma reached 100 off 83 balls, his second-quickest ODI century. India’s skipper hit nine fours and six sixes for his 30th ODI hundred.

At the other end, Gill scored a third ODI hundred in four innings. He hit 13 fours and five sixes to reach the landmark off 72 balls.

Overall, Gill scored 360 runs in three innings against New Zealand. It was the joint-highest for any batsman in a bilateral three-match ODI series along with Pakistan’s Babar Azam against West Indies in 2016.

India then lost both openers in 12 deliveries, and continued losing wickets at regular intervals. From 230-2 in 28 overs, its last seven wickets added only 155 runs in 22 overs.

Hardik Pandya held anchor with a 38-ball 54 after Virat Kohli (36), Ishan Kishan (17) and Suryakumar Yadav (14) were out cheaply on a batting-friendly pitch.

Jacob Duffy took 3-100 in 10 overs,