India v New Zealand 2019: 4 reasons why India won the 5th ODI 

#2. Hardik Pandya gives the finishing touch to the India innings

Pandya bamboozled the Kiwi attack in the final few overs

Once Shankar and Rayudu set up the platform for a good score it was the finishers' turn to take over. After the fall of Shankar’s wicket, Ambati Rayudu took the responsibility to accelerate the score and he did it really well.

His last 38 runs came in just 17 balls. While batting on 90 he looked for a big shot and got caught in the deep, but then came in Hardik Pandya. He took 6-7 balls to settle in and once he got into the groove, the all-rounder started smashing the Black Cap bowlers to all the parts of the park. He hit a hat-trick of sixes against leg-spinner Todd Astle.

His knock of 45 off just 22 balls helped India cross the 250-run mark which looked out of reach at one stage. Even though India had lost 5 wickets at the end of 40 overs, the last ten overs yielded 84 runs due to some aggressive batting late in the innings. Kedar Jadhav too, chipped in with a useful score of 34. These contributions from the finishers took India to a par score on that wicket.