Mitchell ton helps New Zealand level ODI series against India

RAJKOT (Agencies): Daryl Mitchell scored an unbeaten 131 from 117 balls to lead New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India in the second One-Day Inter­nati­onal on Wednesday and level the three-match series at 1-1. New Zealand won the toss and sent India into bat, restricting the hosts to 284/7 in Rajkot. The visitors chased down that target with 15 deliveries remaining to set up a series decider. Mitchell, who has been in fine form in ODI cricket and scored 761 runs in 2025 at an average of 54.35, came in with New Zealand in a difficult position at 46-2. The 34-year-old quickly built a strong partnership with Will Young as the pair combined for 162 runs, with Mitchell being dropped on 80 by Prasidh Krishna before going on to notch his eighth ODI century. “We haven’t won here for a couple of years. Nice to get a win. I am just enjoying doing the job for the country,” Mitchell said. “Young is a class player, I love batting with him, we also have fun batting together. He enjoyed playing the spinners and using all his options.”

Indian bowlers enjoyed early success when Harshit Rana bowled Devon Conway, who made 16, and fellow quick Krishna had Henry Nicholls inside-edge a delivery onto his stumps for 10. After that Young was joined at the crease by experienced Mitchell and the pair steadied the innings for the Black Caps. Young (87) came close to scoring a century before he top-edged a Kuldeep Yadav delivery and sent the ball looping into Nitish Kumar Reddy’s hands, ending the partnership. It was too little too late from India, however, as Mitchell and Glenn Phillips (32) took New Zealand over the finish line and helped them complete their highest-ever ODI run chase in India. “It is a complete performance from us and proud of the team. We were very happy at the halfway point. We bowled very well. We were ready to chase anything, really,” New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kristian Clarke took three decisive wickets to stall India’s top-order, sending Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli back to the dressing room. KL Rahul was the cornerstone of India’s innings as he struck an unbeaten 112 from 92 balls. He put together a 73-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja (27) and added another 57 with Reddy (20) as he scored his eighth century and also recorded his joint-highest score in the 50-over format. “We did get a decent start with the ball, but they batted very well in the middle overs,” India captain Shubman Gill said. “In the first 10-15 overs that we bowled, the ball was doing well. After that the wicket settled. But we could have been more brave, and taken more chances.” The decisive third match of the series will be played in Indore, before the teams wrap up their preparations for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup with a five-match T20I series.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 286 for 3 (Mitchell 131 not out, Young 87, Prasidh 1-49) beat India 284 for 7 (Rahul 112 not out, Gill 56, Clarke 3-56) by seven wickets.