#4 vs New Zealand, Auckland ODI (2014)
The much-vaunted Indian batting line-up collapsed in the face of a challenging target of 315 against New Zealand during an ODI at Auckland in 2014. Despite a solid start by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, they slid to 146-5 in the 28th over. Dhoni tried to repair the damage with Ashwin, but couldn’t carry on further than his 50.
The Indian spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja decided to take matters into their own hands and steer the ship henceforth. Ashwin, whose strength lies in orthodox strokes, suddenly took a liking for big heaves. Jadeja got going with a flurry of boundaries, giving Ashwin company as the latter kept on playing extravagant strokes. The small boundaries seem to have been favouring Jadeja, who cleared the ropes with ease. Ashwin’s departure had little impact on ‘Sir’, as he effortlessly churned out sixes down the ground off the pacers.
The match neared an enthralling end, with 12 required off three balls, and India’s last pair in the middle. Jadeja smashed the third delivery to the fine leg fence, smacked the penultimate delivery for a flat six over cow corner and managed to steal a single to leave honours evened out by the end of the match.
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