After a humiliating loss in Hamilton, India bounced back to beat New Zealand by 35 runs in the 5th ODI at Wellington to clinch the five-match ODI series 4-1. For an emphatic all-round display in the series, Twitter went berserk to celebrate Men in Blue’s historic win.
Earlier, after losing four quick wickets for just 18 runs, Ambati Rayudu (90), Vijay Shankar (45) and Kedar Jadhav (34) stabilised the Indian innings and then Hardik Pandya made a quickfire 45 in 22 balls towards the end to post a decent score before the Indian bowlers came into the picture and dismissed the Blackcaps for 217.
The margin of victory (4-1) is India’s biggest in a series in New Zealand, and second only to the 5-1 scoreline in South Africa last year in terms of India’s biggest ODI series win outside Asia (excluding Zimbabwe).
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Great come back from a tough situation early on to make it 4-1. Shows the character we have. Well done boys. Jai Hind 🇮🇳 @BCCI pic.twitter.com/wtBzWCjz57
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 3, 2019
Great to win this game after being 18-4, great contributions from the middle, lower order today and really loved the way @ImRo45 used these combination of bowlers. Congratulations @BCCI #NZvInd pic.twitter.com/FXR6tDSzLt
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 3, 2019
Fantastic win from India. This one will really please the team a lot & I just loved the intensity with which they bowled today ,despite having already won the series. Great contributions from the middle order with the bat and some excellent bowling by each of the bowlers #NZvIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 3, 2019
India will be very pleased with this win. Shankar and Kedar as 5th bowlers bowled 11 overs for just 53, and that was very crucial in the context of the match. Great 4-1 series win #NZvInd pic.twitter.com/HUbSeY8gbU
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 3, 2019
Good to see the team clicking and contributing towards the victory. @rayuduambati was great today along with the comeback man @hardikpandya7. A good series win in New Zealand for us. #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/rXxfnML16i
— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) February 3, 2019
Never leave your crease with MS Dhoni behind the stumps! https://t.co/RoUp4iMpX6
— ICC (@ICC) February 3, 2019
The Josh is Definitely High. Congratulations to the team on the series win. Complete dominance. 🇮🇳 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/I7ZydIOAf0
— Siddharthh Kaul (@iamsidkaul) February 3, 2019
Such days are very rare and for India to come back from 18/4 and win the game, speaks of the character shown by the lesser lights. Well played Rayudu, Vijay, Kedar, Pandya, Chahal, Shami… #IndvsNZ #4-1
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) February 3, 2019
Terrific comeback by India after embarrassing loss in 4th game. Grand recovery after stuttering start by Rayudu, Jadhav, Shankar to allay misgivings about batting, followed by splendid bowling. Shami & Chahal superb. But @hardikpandya7 show stealer with fiery allround performance
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 3, 2019
2-1 in Australia and 4-1 in NZ. 5-1 in South Africa. 1-2 in England when the premier bowlers weren’t there. This team if all are fit, and that’s they key, will be the team to beat in WC 2019.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) February 3, 2019
Recovered from an early collapse. And then defended a reasonably small total…well done, India 😊🙌 #NZvInd @StarSportsIndia
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 3, 2019
6-2 in australia & new zealand #NZvIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) February 3, 2019
For me a quickthinking @msdhoni running out Neesham was the second and the final turning point of the match after a @hardikpandya7 hurricane.Yes clearly Dhoni's inside d circle captaincy nd chats with d spinners making a sizeable contribution
— Gautam Bhattacharya (@gbsaltlake) February 3, 2019
Worst starts from where India have won an ODI:
17/5 v Zimbabwe (Tunbridge Wells 1983)
34/5 v Pakistan (Sharjah 1985)
18/4 v New Zealand (Wellington 2019)#NZvsIND #INDvsNZ— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 3, 2019
That's Men in Blue for you 🙂
SCORECARD: https://t.co/E0j52ex2S6#NZvIND #INDvNZ #5thODI #TeamIndia #Cricket #TheCricketTimes pic.twitter.com/LnCVagKUsQ— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) February 3, 2019
Lowest score at fall of the 4th wicket to win an ODI: (Batting 1st)
9/4 – India vs Zimbabwe, 1983
15/4 – Australia vs Windies, 1996
18/4 – INDIA vs NEW ZEALAND, Today#NZvIND— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) February 3, 2019
Man of the Series – @MdShami11 who picked up nine wickets from the four matches matches that he played in #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/jQjSMFiHnJ
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 3, 2019
