A Kane Williamson century and superb effort in the field helped the BLACKCAPS to a memorable six run victory over India in the second ODI in New Delhi.
Defending 242, Tim Southee (3 for 52) and Trent Boult (2 of 25) stood tall, while some spectacular pieces of fielding helped swing the game in the visitors favour.
The final over victory levels the series at 1-1, with the third rubber in Mohali on Sunday.
Same toss - different NZ team
Almost comically the coin toss went the way of India again. They duly elected to bowl in front of a full and boisterous Delhi crowd. The BLACKCAPS welcomed back Trent Boult and Matt Henry to their line up in place of Doug Bracewell and Jimmy Neesham, while Anton Devcich received his first crack of the tour with Ish Sodhi subbing out.
Latham rolls on
He’s been the pick of the BLACKCAPS batsmen this tour and he continued his form at the top. Timed the ball superbly, drove and swept well again. Seemed destined for his fifth half century of the campaign when he was trapped LBW by Amit Mishra for a run a ball 46.
A captain’s knock
It was a Kane Williamson masterclass as he compiled his eighth ODI century. Had all the signature skill and stroke play one would expect and it was the bedrock of the BLACKCAPS innings. He eventually finished on 118 off 128 balls, with 14 fours and one six. It represented his sixth 50 in his last seven ODI innings against India.
Hear from the skipper post match here.
Indian wickets halt BLACKCAPS charge
At 202 for three at the 40 over mark the BLACKCAPS were set to launch themselves into a total threatening 300. India had other ideas and proceeded to put the breaks on by picking up wickets throughout a final 10 overs, which produced just 40 runs for six wickets.
Boult 
Enter ‘lightning boult’ pun here. Boult bowled his first eight overs for 14 runs and that was a fair reflection of his effort. He ended with two for 25 from his 10 and claimed the important penultimate wicket of Hardick Pandya for 36. A performance worthy of the number one ranked ODI bowler in the world.
Fielders to the fore
Defending what felt like a slightly below par score, the BLACKCAPS fielding needed to help even the odds. And they duly did. First, Luke Ronchi took a sharp chance down the leg side up to the stumps to Mitchell Santner to remove the dangerous Virat Kohli on his home ground. Corey Anderson charged in from deep fine leg to claim a brilliant finger tip take and dismiss Ajinkya Rahane. Santner and Ronchi would combine again in spectacular fashion. Santner, flying in from the deep and off balance, picked up and threw in one motion to find Ronchi on the half volley who took the ball in front of the stumps and clattered the poles to find Manish Pandey two inches short!
Southee special
A brilliant one handed catch off his own bowling to dismiss India’s run chase master MS Dhoni, right when the game was in the balance. Southee was trailing off to his left after the delivery and had to throw himself back across the pitch to his right to scoop the catch up inches from the ground with his right hand. Simply sensational!
What the Gup
With Anton Devcich unable to bowl his final over due to cramp, up stepped Martin Guptill. The part time offie delivered an over to remember. Two wickets, two runs off the bat, two dot ball and four individual wides. It was all as weird as it sounds.
The finish
When Mishra became Guptil’s second victim in the 41st over, it seemed the match was all but done with India 183-8, who still required a further 60 runs from the final 48 balls. However, Hardick Pandya and Umesh Yadav had other ideas, taking the game right to the wire. They had the game in their favour at 11 needed off 9 balls, but Boult got Pandya then Southee held his nerve in the final over, delivering a perfect yorker to clean bowl Jasprit Bumrah and clinch a memorable six run victory.
