India lead the five-match series 2-0
Team India skipper Virat Kohli lauded his team for another clinical performance as India went 2-0 up in the five-match ODI series against New Zealand on Saturday.
Batting first, India posted 324/4 from their quota of 50 overs thanks to a early and late flourish from the openers and the pair of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav in the end respectively. With the last game between the host nation and Sri Lanka being a high scoring one, India's total were seen more as par than a winning one but the bowlers responded brilliantly and bowled out the home side for 234 runs to give the visitors a 90-run win at the Bay Oval.
Speaking about the victory, Kohli said that it was really pleasing to see such performances against New Zealand on the trot.
"Clinical performance again. We had a par score as Rohit mentioned with the kind of pitch and boundary dimensions here. But we bowled really well and back-to-back clinical performances is really pleasing," Kohli said.
With around 170 on the board around the 30th over, India were looking all set to put on a big total but once Kohli fell in the 40th over, the scoring rate slowed down a tade before Dhoni and Jadhav managed to take the team past 320 in the last over.
"I made a conscious effort after the second drinks break to take some risks. Once I got out, the new batsman had to take time. These are the things we need to look into with the World Cup nearby.
"We would like to score those 15-20 runs extra but at the same time, good to see us chip our way to a balanced total," Kohli said when asked about scoring a bit more in the middle overs.
The 30-year-old ended by praising the bowlers, who again put on a fine show to win the game for the visitors.
"They are always ready to bowl for you and pick wickets, which is key. They are not content to go wicketless for 40 runs in their quota, they'd rather have more wickets for 60. That mindset is crucial for us and as is Rohit and Shikhar at the top," Kohli concluded.
The next ODI will be played at the same venue at the same venue on Monday.
