New Delhi:
Trent Boult ripped through the Indian batting line up that was missing their talismanic skipper Virat Kohli as they were staring at a low total in the fourth ODI in Hamilton. Boult ended with figures of 10-4-21-5, his fifth five-wicket haul in ODIs and his sensational spell, bowling unchanged throughout played a massive role in India’s batting falling like a pack of cards. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl and the Indian openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, started off on a solid note. However, it was at that moment that India was struck by the lightning ‘Boult’.
The left-hander trapped Shikhar Dhawan LBW for 13 with a full ball that nipped back in to trap the batsman in front of middle and leg. From that point on, the carnage began. Boult got a delivery to dart back in off the seam and Rohit Sharma (7) could manage to only push it back to the bowler who took a smart return catch. At the other end, Colin de Grandhomme gave Boult good support as he picked up Ambati Rayudu (0) and Dinesh Karthik (0) in one over. Shubman Gill (9), the debutant got going with a boundary but he was also undone by a sharp inswinger from Boult as the batsman chipped a drive back to the bowler.
Kedar Jadhav (1) was trapped plumb in front by a full ball that curved back in and even the review could not save him. Hardik Pandya slammed three boundaries in one over but he was also sent back with a short ball on leg stump that stuck on the pitch and the batsman could only glove it to the keeper Tom Latham.
This was Boult’s fifth five-wicket haul in ODIs and all of them have come in New Zealand. His best figures are 7/34 which he achieved against West Indies in Christchurch in 2017 and it is the second-best bowling figures by a New Zealand bowler in ODIs behind Tim Southee’s haul of 7/33 in the 2015 World Cup clash against England in Wellington.
Boult picked up 6/33 in the Hamilton ODI against Australia and in the 2015 World Cup, he continued his stellar run by taking 5/27 in the epic clash against Australia in Auckland. The left-armer picked up 5/17 against Pakistan in Dunedin in January 2018 which played a big role in New Zealand whitewashing Pakistan 5-0. During the five-wicket haul, Boult became the second New Zealand bowler after Daniel Vettori to take 100 wickets in New Zealand. Vettori had taken 129 wickets in 129 matches while Boult has reached 100 in just 49 games.
