India vs New Zealand, 4th ODI: Will Young and Finn Allen Put India Under Pressure

India bowled New Zealand out for 134 in Wellington. Six days later in Mount Maunganui, the hosts had 156 before the halfway mark, with seven wickets in hand. Will Young was on 62 off 61 balls and Finn Allen had 19 off 13. Their fourth-wicket stand had already brought 31 off 25 balls. Shreyas Iyer had asked New Zealand to bat, and India were looking at the prospect of their biggest chase of the series.

New Zealand began the fourth ODI knowing they had to win both remaining games to draw the series. They had been bowled out for 185 in Auckland and had taken until the 32nd over to reach 100 in Wellington. On Friday, Tim Seifert and Young put on 85 in 12 overs. Seifert hit six fours and three sixes in his 58 off 48 balls, scoring more than two-thirds of the runs in the opening stand.

Seifert set the pace. Young kept it up

Gurnoor Brar ended the opening stand when Ishan Kishan caught Seifert behind. Brar had taken 4/30 in Wellington, where New Zealand were five down for 53 after 20 overs. At Bay Oval, his first wicket came after the hosts had already scored 85. Axar Patel removed Nick Kelly for four at 96/2, and Dean Foxcroft fell for eight with the score on 125 in the 20th over. India had taken three wickets for 40 runs and still had to get Young out.

Young was on 29 off 31 balls when Kelly fell. By the time his partnership with Allen had reached 31, he had added 33 off his next 30 deliveries. His unbeaten 62 included seven fours and two sixes. The opener had been there for Seifert’s burst, stayed through the loss of three wickets and was still scoring at better than a run a ball once Allen joined him.

Allen struck two fours and a six in his first 13 balls, contributing 19 of the first 31 runs he and Young put on. Kuldeep Yadav, brought into the XI at Bay Oval, had conceded 18 from his first 10 legal deliveries. Axar had figures of 1/29 from six overs. With two right-handers finding the boundary, Iyer had to decide how long to persist with wrist-spin and when to bring back his quicks.

India’s reshuffled batting order could face its biggest chase of the series

India came into the game 2–0 up after the Hamilton washout. In Auckland they chased a revised 143 with five wickets to spare. In Wellington they finished on 113/7 and won by four runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. That second chase cost India three wickets inside nine overs, even though the revised target was just 110.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was picked to open with Rohit Sharma after Shubman Gill left to prepare for the Tests. Ishan Kishan replaced KL Rahul, whose unbeaten 26 helped India get home in Wellington. The changed batting order could now have a much bigger job. At 156/3, Young had carried New Zealand through the passage in which India took three wickets. With Allen already striking at 146.15, the hosts still had seven wickets to spend across the remaining 26.2 overs.

With inputs from ANI