Having welcomed the first rays of warmth at the start of the southern hemisphere summer on Thursday, ‘Windy Welly’ lapsed back into form on Friday, a day before India’s second ODI against New Zealand.
Dark and depressingly gloomy for the most part, the weather forced the cancellation of India’s practice session at Basin Reserve, the designated Test venue, though Saturday’s game will be played at the multi-purpose Hnry Stadium, some 3.2 kilometres away.
India’s first win in five ODIs on New Zealand soil was achieved with little fuss in Auckland on Wednesday night. Set up by the intelligence and incisiveness of a pace group with limited exposure to the global 50-over stage, India’s five-wicket victory in a match interrupted by rain was formalised by a whirlwind 74 from Virat Kohli, who gifted himself a 38th birthday present a day early.
It’s almost a given that Saturday will mark Kohli’s final appearance in India colours in Wellington. He has a reasonable record in the New Zealand capital; he made a sparkling 82, admittedly in a losing cause, in his only ODI at the Hnry (in 2014), and slammed an unbeaten 105 in the second innings of the second Test at the Basin on that same tour, though that hundred will perennially remain a footnote.
With India 246 runs ahead on the first innings and New Zealand on the ropes at 94-5 in the second, Kohli was specifically stationed at silly mid-on to exploit a perceived weakness in skipper Brendon McCullum’s armour. Mohammed Shami did elicit the error but Kohli, almost lazily, stuck out his left hand and failed to latch on to the catch. McCullum was on nine at the time, and went on to create history by becoming New Zealand’s first Test triple centurion. His sixth-wicket stand of 352 with BJ Watling secured the Kiwis an honourable draw in Zaheer Khan’s final Test and gave them a 1-0 series victory.
Kohli will not grace Basin Reserve again, having retired from Test cricket 18 months back. And irrespective of whether he remembers the McCullum drop or not, he will be determined to entertain the Wellingtonians with one final flourish, weather permitting. As will Rohit Sharma, whose recent rich vein of ODI form was cut short by a six-ball zero.
Mohammed Siraj has linked up with his colleagues after playing for India ‘A’ in Christchurch earlier in the week. New Zealand, meanwhile, were forced to call up Nick Kelly once fellow left-hand batter Devon Conway was ruled out of the series with concussion.
82
No of runs scored by Virat Kohli in the only ODI he has played at Wellington’s Hnry Stadium
29
No of runs Virat Kohli needs to become the first batsman to score 2,000 ODI runs vs New Zealand
Four
No of ODIs India have played against NZ at Wellington’s Hnry Stadium; the visitors have won two and lost one while one match was washed out