With the series already won, India opted to rest Virat Kohli and gave Shubman Gill an ODI debut, whilst Khaleel Ahmed came in for Mohammed Shami. The Kiwis made a raft of changes, with Colin Munro, Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi and Lockie Ferguson dropping out of the side to be replaced by Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, and Matt Henry.
India won the toss and got off to a reasonable start with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 21 for the first wicket, before the carnage began. Trent Boult then produced a superb spell of swing bowling to rip the innings apart. Bowling 10 overs unchanged, he took 5 for 21 in a spell that included four maidens.
First to fall was Shikhar Dhawan, lbw for 13, followed, in Boult’s next over, by Rohit, caught and bowled. De Grandhomme then took two wickets in four balls, accounting for both Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik who departed without scoring. Boult then had Gill caught and bowled, before Kedar Jadhav became his 4th victim. De Grandhomme then struck again to remove Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Hardik Pandya was one of the only Indian batsmen to make it into double figures, but he too fell to Boult, before Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared a stand of 25, the best of the innings. However, Yadav then fell to Astle for 15, before Neesham wrapped up proceedings by bowling Ahmed. India had been bowled out for 92 in less than 21 overs, and the fact that Chahal, with 18 not out, was top scorer, told its own story. Meanwhile, apart from Boult’s heroics, de Grandhomme finished with 3 for 26.
In reply, Martin Guptill scored 14 of the first three balls of the innings before he was caught by Pandya off Kumar, who also claimed the other New Zealand wicket to fall, that of Kane Williamson, who was caught behind. But Henry Nicholls and Ross Taylor cruised to the winning line, as the hosts reached their target in less than 15 overs. Nicholls, with a six to his name, was unbeaten on 30, whilst Taylor, who hit 3 sixes, was 37 not out.
Boult’s effort with the ball earned him, not surprisingly, the man of the man award.