India vs New Zealand, 2019: 5 unnoticed things from the 5th ODI  

After a thrashing in the penultimate ODI at Hamilton, it was about making a comeback for India in the final ODI of the series at Wellington after already having claimed the 5-match series. On the other hand, Kiwis were keen to carry on the momentum from the last ODI and end their dismal series performance on a high.

Winning the toss, India decided to bat first as they made as many as three changes in their playing XI. MS Dhoni came after a gap of two ODIs replacing Dinesh Karthik, while Mohammed Shami replaced Khaleel Ahmed and Vijay Shankar got a game in place of Kuldeep Yadav. The hosts made a forceful change to allow Colin Munro with another opportunity as he replaced the injured Martin Guptill.

Batting first, the Indian top order once again crumbled against the moving ball. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Shubman Gill failed to provide a good start to the team as inside ten overs, India lost four wickets at a score of 18.

India was once again staring down the barrel with a top-order collapse but this time, the duo of Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar played smartly to arrest the slide. The two added 98 runs to see India out of trouble.

To end things, Hardik Pandya played a gem of a knock to provide the finishing touches with his quick fiery 22-ball 45. India ended their innings at 252, giving their bowlers enough chances to make a game out of it.

Chasing a tricky total, Kiwis couldn't begin well as they lost two crucial wickets in the power-play. Soon after, even Ross Taylor was back to the pavilion. However, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham steadied the ship with their 67-run partnership.

But the wicket of Williamson saw the floodgates open for India as the visitors ripped through the Kiwi's middle and lower-middle order despite Jimmy Neesham's 32-ball 44 giving his team a glimmer of hope.

However, it was too much to ask for the Kiwis as they fell short by 35 runs to hand India yet another clinical performance to secure a 4-1 series victory.

Here's a look at 5 unnoticed things from the 5th ODI:

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#1 Hardik Pandya does it again with his power-hitting

Hardik Pandya's flourish helped India to finish strong

It was a yet another top-order collapse for the Indian team at Wellington as Kiwis struck four times in the first ten overs. Though India had Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar at the rescue to bail the team out of the trouble, it was Hardik Pandya's innings that gave India the much-needed flourish at the fag end of the innings.

It was a perfect platform set for Hardik as he could strike from the first ball. He didn't take long in making his intentions clear and took the charge against the leg-spinner, Todd Astle.

He smacked Astle for three consecutive sixes in an over to plunder 18 runs off his over. This was not the first time when Pandya showed his skills with the bat to stroke three sixes consecutively against a bowler.

This was the fifth time when he smacked a spinner for 3 sixes in an over. Before this, he smashed Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Adam Zampa and Malinda Pushpakumara to achieve such a feat.

#2 Rohit Sharma fails to score an ODI century in a series

Rohit couldn't register a century in the entire ODI series against New Zealand

Indian skipper for last two ODIs in the series against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma, was devoid of a rare feat in the series. In the past few ODI series, both home and away, Sharma has been in splendid touch. He has been India's best batsman after Virat Kohli and has shouldered responsibility at the top of the order in the past few years.

In the last ten ODI series, Rohit boasts of a rare record that defines his consistency in the white-ball format. He has managed to score at least a century in each of his last ten ODI series for the men in blue.

However, in the series against the Kiwis, the Indian vice-captain missed converting two of his 50s into big hundreds. In fact, in the entire series, no Indian batsman could reach a three-figure mark in any of the ODIs.

#3 Ambati Rayudu becomes first Indian batsman to be dismissed in the 90s in New Zealand

Ambati Rayudu made 90 to help India post 252 runs in Wellington

After a batting debacle in the last ODI at Hamilton, it was a crucial game for India's batting to show the entire world that the last game was a mere aberration.

However, the batting did fail once again as the top-order was found wanting against some superb bowling by the Kiwi quicks upfront. But Ambati Rayudu stood tall as he mastered India's progress after faltering in the previous encounter.

Rayudu got the much-needed support of Vijay Shankar from the other end to smother any further threat from the Blackcaps. Rayudu looked all set to become the first Indian to score a century in this series but was eventually dismissed for a score of 90. In doing so, he became the first Indian batter to be dismissed in the 90s in an ODI in New Zealand.

#4 Indian seamers continue to pick wickets in the power-play

Shami was awarded the man of the series for his nine wickets in the entire series

This has been the major development for India in past few matches. The seamers have been consistent to pick wickets at the top of the order which in turn makes life easy for the Indian spinners to inflict the damage in the middle overs.

Even in this series, the duo of Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were relentless to dent the Kiwis in the first power-play on every occasion in the series.

This is a major reason why India has been able to restrict their opposition to low totals. In all the five ODIs in the series, Indian seamers have managed to send at least two Kiwi batsman back in the pavilion, making it difficult for the middle-order to up the ante form the word go.

If India can continue to carry on the good work, it won't be tough for the Indian spinners to bowl to the best of their abilities.

#5 MS Dhoni dismissed for a single digit score after nine years against New Zealand

MS Dhoni could score only a run in 5th ODI

2019 has done wonders for MS Dhoni so far in terms of his ODI performance with the bat. In three ODIs against Australia, Dhoni registered a fifty in each of the appearances. He anchored the chase on two occasions and was amongst the runs through the entire course of the series.

Coming into this series, Dhoni's form was the biggest positive for India. Also, his batting display in New Zealand has been stupendous in the past few years and he carried the momentum in his batting as he scored runs in the first two ODIs.

After being out from the next two games, Dhoni came back in the playing XI in the final ODI. However, he failed to get in the groove as he registered his first single-digit score in last 15 ODI innings against New Zealand. His last single-digit score against the Kiwis came nine years ago.