The stadium had emptied out by the time India were all out just a couple of balls after Kohli’s dismissal. The crowd could hardly be blamed. India’s batters found ways to fall one after another: a defiant Harshit Rana cameo and Kohli’s 54th ODI ton notwithstanding.

At least they could see the star put together another vintage effort – his 108-ball 124 was class personified. But it was a small consolation.

Plucky New Zealand lived up to their reputation of springing up surprises. They had travelled to India for an 11th ODI series – seven bilaterals and four multi-nation tournaments – with a squad that had eight members who had not even stepped on these shores before. They handed out some debuts, and many had ODI match numbers in single digits. Yet, they leave with a first-ever series win in the 50-over format in India, a run that goes back 37 years.

India skipper Shubman Gill rightly credited the visitors in his appraisal of the series. “We were a good enough side to beat them in the series,” he told the media, presumably speaking about the strength of the two teams on paper, after the loss. “But they just outplayed us in all departments.”

The seeds of this defeat were sown in the afternoon. Daryl Mitchell hit a second successive match-winning hundred, ably assisted by Glenn Phillips’ second ODI ton, to put together the 300+ score. They stuck to their task while India’s batters imploded. Four of them were caught attempting ill-timed leg-side heaves. Skipper Gill’s defence was breached without much trouble by a Kyle Jamieson nip-backer. KL Rahul’s tentative chip to cover, off the disciplined finger-spin of Jayden Lennox, didn’t exactly cover him in glory either.

There were bright sparks for India on a dour batting day. Nitish Reddy had a strong partnership with Kohli, proving his usefulness with the bat with a half-century and with the ball with his eight overs. Rana’s emergence as a strong hitter late in the innings could be of value to the team going forward.

And then there was Kohli, in typical ODI master mode. He shelved some of his new-found aggression every time he stood dumbfounded at one of his partners’ mistakes. He paced his innings perfectly without risk and also provided a guiding hand to Reddy and Rana.

Mixed bowling

Despite the imposing-looking total, New Zealand had actually ended a few dozen runs short of where they could have been because of India’s new-ball exploits in what was otherwise quite a mixed bowling performance.

Two wickets in the first seven balls helped. The positive impacts of Arshdeep Singh’s inclusion were there to see barely a few balls into the innings as he got Henry Nicholls to chop an out-swinging length ball onto his stumps. Rana sent Devon Conway back with a peach that pitched on off and threatened to deviate but held its shape, prompting a tentative prod to the slips. The two kept up the threat for the rest of the Powerplay.

But once the ball aged, neither Rana nor Arshdeep could find much bite. With Gill’s reluctance to throw it to the spinners, the responsibility fell on Mohammed Siraj and Reddy. Both had a similar template: bowling stump to stump and finding the requisite grip from the surface with the occasional slow bouncer.

Reddy, though, was eventually carted to all parts but a few late wickets ensured the score was not bigger on an Indore belter. But it was another less-than-satisfactory performance with the ball, three for three in a series of many disappointments for the hosts.”Everyone’s come to watch Rory McIlroy but keep an eye out for ‘people’s champion’ Tommy Fleetwood” (Oct 17, 2025).