Rayudu surpasses Kohli-Dhoni at Wellington

It was a flop show by the Indian top order batsmen against the Blackcaps at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. During the match when the team lost four quick wickets on the score of 18, it seemed that once again the whole team would be all out under 100 but, Ambati Rayudu had other plans. He along with Vijay Shankar put up a 98 run-stand, and then a 74 run partnership with Kedar Jadhav helped the team reach a respectable score.

During this, Rayudu had a chance to score a century but was caught out by Colin Munro off Matt Henry on the score of 90. Rayudu faced 113 deliveries and hit eight fours and four huge sixes. Although Rayudu may not have managed to score a century, he made a special record at Wellington. Rayudu has now become the Indian batsman with the most runs in this particular ground.

Prior to Rayudu, Indian captain Virat Kohli had the highest score of 82 runs on this ground, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni had the highest score of 47 runs in the 3 matches he played on this ground. Rayudu made the record of scoring the most runs in an innings by surpassing greats like Kohli and Dhoni.

Apart from Rayudu, Vijay Shankar also played a good inning in the 5th ODI. Shankar's fate did not support him and eventually missed out on a well-deserved half-century. He lost his wicket in the way of a run-out on the score of 45.

Rayudu completed his 10th ODI half-century by hitting two fours off Colin de Grandhomme's over. After this, he hit two sixes off two consecutive balls from Colin Munro. After the dismissal of Rayudu, Pandya took charge and hit three consecutive sixes off leg spinner Todd Astle. Thanks to the contributions of these batsmen, that India was able to put up a respectable total on the board against New Zealand. India won the match by 35 runs and the series 4-1.