New Zealand vs India: Rohit misses unique feat and more unnoticed things from second ODI

After the historic Australian tour, the Indian team came to face the New Zealanders. They continued the good run by winning the first ODI against New Zealand quite comfortably. In the second ODI, the Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. The Bay Oval is a small ground and it is difficult to defend here, but Kohli opted for the challenge.

Like icing on the cake, Indian openers gave them a solid start as both of them added over 150 runs for the first wicket. It was the 14th-century stand between these two in ODI cricket. Although, Rohit missed a well deserved century by 13 runs. After the openers were dismissed, Kohli and lower order chipped in with the 30s and 40s and helped India to post the total of 324 runs.

While chasing this total, New Zealand lost the wickets early including the in-form captain Kane Williamson's wicket in a tricky chase. Once they lost top three, the spin trio made it even more tough for the home side. Kuldeep was a star with the ball as he took a four-wicket haul and New Zealand were bundled out for 234. India eventually took a decisive 2-0 lead.

Here are a few interesting observations from today's action at the Bay Oval.

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#1 300 International sixes since 2013

Rohit Sharma

International cricket has seen two versions of Rohit Sharma. One before the year 2013 and the other after Champions Trophy 2013. The 30-year old has been in an amazing form since the tournament.

Whilst Kohli holds most of the current batting records in cricket, the record of hitting the most number of sixers is held by someone else. Yes, the record belongs to non-other than Rohit Sharma. Ever since he was promoted as an opener in white ball cricket, the Mumbai-born has been hitting sixes with consummate ease. The extremely talented lad has all kinds of shots to clear the rope.

Hitman has smashed 300 sixes since 2013 which is 122 more than the second best Martin Guptill, who has 178 sixes. He also broke the record for hitting most sixes in a calendar year in 2017 and interestingly he broke his own record in 2018.

He holds the record of hitting the most number of international sixes against a team as he has hit 89 sixes against Australia, which is more than Chris Gayle’s record of 88 sixes against England. Thus, it is needless to say that, Rohit, by the end of his career, might end up being the most prolific six-hitter in cricket history.

#2 Rohit misses a unique feat:

Rohit Sharma yet again shined with the ball

Scoring centuries outside Asia is a rare feat for Indian batsmen and scoring them in SENA (South Africa, New Zealand, England, Australia) countries is quite commendable. Howbeit, only three Indians have this record to their name. Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan are the only Indian batsmen to score an ODI century in all of the SENA countries.

Rohit, albeit on Saturday, came very near to this milestone but missed the golden opportunity by 13 runs as he once again threw his wicket while batting on the score of 87 runs. Rohit's performance was stupendous in the second ODI as he was timing the ball wonderfully.

The Mumbai batsman smashed a few big sixes too and was looking to get one more ton but unfortunately missed it by 13 runs. He had scored centuries in South Africa, England and Australia in his three recent tours but has failed to do so against the Black Caps till now.

Although, the Indian vice-captain has three more chances to join the list and with the kind of form in which he is won't be tough for him to achieve this milestone.

#3 Kohli's 'only' mode of dismissals:

Virat Kohli

Taking Virat Kohli's wicket is a feat which every bowler in modern day cricket wants to achieve. The kind of form he is in, it is very difficult for a bowler to get better of him. Interestingly, in his last 14 dismissals, Indian captain has only been caught.

This stat shows how focused the Indian captain remains on every ball and the amount of concentration he possesses while batting. That's the reason why he rarely misses the balls while batting.

Most of the caught dismissals have taken when he tried to take on the bowler and only few they are dismissals purely caused by the bowler's skill. This shows who truly is the boss in international cricket right now.

Interestingly, he has been dismissed 22 times against New Zealand in limited overs cricket and all the times he has been caught by the fielders: 18 times in ODIs and 4 times in T20Is. Thus, it is quite obvious that if he avoids the extravagant shots early in the innings then he can score even more runs for the Indian team.

#4 Kane Williamson's rare failure versus India:

Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson is regarded one best batsman New Zealand ever produced. He has been in a great form against India at home in ODIs. He has scored six consecutive half-centuries again India at the NZ soil in ODI cricket. He was one of the reasons why Kiwis were able to win 2014 ODI series quite comfortably against the strong Indian side.

He had also begun the 2019 ODI series a half century. The Kiwi skipper looked in great touch in today's game too. Kane smashed two consecutive sixes off Shami over fine leg and followed up with his typical push towards point for four runs. He took 18 runs off first four balls of the over. He tried to cut the fifth ball but unfortunately dragged on to the stumps and that's was end his half-centuries streak against visitor.

However, expect him to bounce back strongly.