India vs New Zealand 3rd ODI: Kohli's Crucial Innings Amidst Rana's Maiden Fifty

Maiden ODI fifty for Harshit Rana in style with a six off Zak Foulkes. OUTTT!!! Ohh wait. Rana tries to go again but is caught by Henry Nicholls at long-on for 52. The partnership of 99 is broken. Another Indian bites the dust as Mohammed Siraj is caught by the wicketkeeper down the leg side. Indian hopes fade fast. IND 277-8 (43.5) Just like Virat Kohli, Harshit Rana deserves full credit too. Preferred into the Indian playing XI for his batting prowess down the order, the Delhi all-rounder is playing a perfect ally to Kohli. At the other end, Kohli is doing what he does best, dispatching Kyle Jamieson for a huge six over the bowler's head. Rana dances down the ground against Jamieson to smash over long-on for a six. Rohit Sharma can't believe this as he has his hands on head. IND 270/6 (43) Hundred number 54 for Virat Kohli and what a time it has come. Under pressure, Kohli reaches his three figures in 91 balls. This is his 7th hundred against New Zealand in 36 innings. The partnership between Kohli and Harshit Rana crosses 50 too. Overall, this is Kohli's 85th international hundred. IND 240/6 (41) If India are to win this game, Virat Kohli needs to stay in te middle till the very end. After a long time, Kohli and Harshit Rana are slowly opening their arms with a flurry of boundaries. While Rana smashed a huge six over the bowler's head, Kohli got two fours and a six in two overs to get into the nineties. IND 219-6 (38) OUTTT!!!! The pressure was mounting on Ravindra Jadeja. The Indian dances down the track to smash Jayden Lennox for a six over deep mid-wicket but Will Young was well placed to complete the catch. India continue to love wickets. Virat Kohli is still there in the middle. Harshit Rana joins Kohli. IND 179/6 (33) OUTTTTT!!!!!! At a time when it looked India are cruising through Nitish Kumar Reddy is brilliant caught by Will Young at short midwicket. Nitish completely dejected. The 88-run stand comes to an end. Kristian Clarke gets a wicket. Reddy goes back for 53. IND 160/5 (28) Looks like India are slowly shifting gears in the chase. During one of the overs, InVirat Kohli seemed to have told Nitish Reddy to not miss a shot if it is in his arc. The all-rounder heard his senior as he pulled Zak Foulkes for a flat six. Reddy has entered his 40s. The partnership between Kohli and Reddy put on 76 runs so far for the fifth wicket. IND 147/4 (26) 100 comes up for India in the most pressured situation. Both Virat Kohli and Nitish Kumar Reddy have gone to taking singles to keep the scoreboard ticking, something that Shreyas Iyer could have done too. The fifty-run stand comes up between the two. Fifty for Kohli too as India fight back in pursuit of 338. IND 120/4 (22.2) Another Indian bites the dust as the hosts lose their fourth wicket. KL Rahul goes for a drive but Jayden Lennox's delivery turns as the ball hits on the top of the bat and goes to Glenn Phillips for a simple catch. Nitish Reddy comes in the middle. IND 71/4 (13) Virat Kohli is surely the man who can inspire such a chase. The former Indian captain, who has been in sublime form, hits a couple of fours off Kristian Clarke to get into groove. Shreyas Iyer at the other end certainly need to give full support to Kohli. IND 68-2 (11) Peach of a delivery to break Shubman Gill's defence. Gill goes forward in defence, but the Kyle Jamieson delivery nipped back to break into the middle stump. Nobody saw that coming. India lose both their openers. IND 45/2 (6.4) OUTTT!!!!! Rohit Sharma tried to go over the bowler's head, but his bat gets rolled at the point of contact of the ball only for Kristian Clarke to take a simple catch at mid-on. IND 29/1 (4.1) A four and a six in the last two balls by Michael Bracewell off Mohammed Siraj as New Zealand put on 337/8 in 50 overs. It was all about Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, who forged 219 runs for the fourth wicket en route to their respective hundreds. In fact, that partnership took the game away from India. At a time when a 350-plus score looked easy, the Indian bowlers made a brilliant comeback with three wickets in a space of 14 balls including those of Mitchell and Phillips. OUTTT!!! Two wickets in two overs for India and this time it Daryl Mitchell. Mohammed Siraj gets the big man. The pacer bowls an off-cutter which Mitchell pulls but only manages a top edge. Kuldeep Yadav takes the catch. Mitchell goes back for 137 and gets Virat Kohli's applause near the boundary rope. NZ 285-5 (45) OUTTT!!! Finally a wicket for India and its Arshdeep Singh. Glenn Phillips chases a wide delivery and a thick outside edge goes to KL Rahul. The 219-run stand is finally broken. Phillips goes back for 106. Also this is the first time, two New Zealand batters have scored hundreds against India in the same ODI innings. NZ 283-4 (44) A hundred to remember for Glenn Phillips. He gets to three figures with a single off Arshdeep Singh, his second in the format. The whole New Zealand dugout stands up and applauds. NZ 266/3 (42) Another hundred for Daryl Mitchell, his second consecutive in the series so far. This is his third hundred in last four innings and ninth overall in the format. NZ 201/3 (36) After a slow start, Glenn Phillips is slowly shifting gears in Indore. The right-hander scored a boundary after 37 balls and its been no stopping him since then. The partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Phillips has reached 94 and its getting out of Indian hands now. Interestingly, Ravindra Jadeja is yet to be used by Shubman Gill yet. NZ 152/3 (29) One more fifty for Daryl Mitchell in this series, his third consecutive against Men in Blue. India are unable to break the Mitchell code as after the New Zealander scored 84, 131 not out and a fifty today. The best thing so far for India is that the bowlers haven't let the opposition find the boundary more often today. NZ 106/3 (22) Spin comes in for the first time in this game. Daryl Mitchell, who scored an unbeaten hundred in the previous game, welcomes Kuldeep with a huge six over the bowler's head. It must be noted that, the Holkar Stadium is a short ground as compared to other two. NZ 84/3 (17) OUTTT!!!! What a catch by Ravindra Jadeja, diving to his right. Harshit Rana pitches short of length, wide of the wicket as Will Young carves his cut. Jadeja, stationed at backward point, takes a sharp catch. Rana strikes for the second time in the game. NZ 59/3 (12.1) As said, the wicket in Indore is a batting belter and Will Young and Daryl Mitchell are using the conditions to perfection. After the first two wickets, its been the Mitchell-Young duo as the pain have already added 45-plus runs for the third wicket. The Kiwis reach fifty in the 11th over. NZ 53/2 (11) One thing that everyone must remember is that the ground in Indore is a not a big one as others venues in India. Plus the wicket is a batting belter. With top notch batters in both the playing XIs, we are in for a high-scoring contest today. In fact, 418/5 by India (in 2011) against West Indies is the highest score in ODIs at this ground. The next two highest scores - 399/5 (vs Australia) and 385/9 (vs New Zealand) were also scored by India. New Zealand's highest total at this venue was 295 against India in 2023. NZ 32/2 (7) What a start it has been for India! The inclusion of Arshdeep Singh straightaway paid off as the left-arm pacer forces Henry Nicholls to chop onto his own stumps. Nicholls goes back for first-ball duck. In the next over, Harshit Rana strikes in his first ball as Devon Conway edged to Rohit Sharma at first slip. Daryl Mitchell and Will Young have come to the middle. NZ 16/2 (4) Unlike the last time, Mohammed Siraj has not found a place in India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad. Reacting to his snub, Siraj said, “I played in the last T20 World Cup, but not this time. For a player, playing in a World Cup is a dream; playing for your country is even better. The team is quite good on paper and in form. My best wishes to them. Keep the trophy here,” said Siraj. India have enjoyed a stellar run at the Holkar stadium in ODIs. In seven matches India have played at this venue, the Men in Blue won in all of them. In fact, Indore is the second venue where India have won all their ODIs. The other stadium is Sri Lanka's Pallekale stadium where they have played four and won in all of them. For Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fans, the former India captains will be go into another break till the IPL starts. Both Rohit and Kohli do not play Tests and T20Is and will now directly play for Mumbai Indians and RCB respectively in IPL, starting from March. While it was a Virat Kohli show in Baroda in the first game, Daryl Mitchell stole the limelight in the second game to level the series 1-1 for the Kiwis. It's a do-or-die situation for both sides in the final game of the series. Can India win or New Zealand take it home?