India knocked off the perch
India surrendered their world number one ODI ranking Wednesday when they suffered a second successive defeat to New Zealand in a rain-abbreviated game in Hamilton.
India were 20 runs short of their Duckworth-Lewis adjusted target of 297 when further rain ended the game with three balls remaining.
India's second loss to the eighth ranked New Zealand saw them slip behind Australia on the world rankings.
A two-hour rain break during the New Zealand innings and big hitting by all-rounder Corey Anderson conspired to give India a daunting target which they threatened to reach until the loss of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
When the skipper went for 56 in the 40th over India were 257-6 and their tailend batsmen were unable to maintain the required run rate.
New Zealand, sent into bat first, made 271-7 after rain reduced their innings to 42 overs.
Anderson was the central figure in a 101-run slog in the 8.4 overs after the rain break which, under the Duckworth-Lewis system, saw India's target scaled upwards to 297.
They made a rocky start to their reply when Tim Southee removed Shikhar Dhawan (12) and followed with the dismissal of Rohit Sharma (20) to claim his 100th ODI wicket.
When Mitch McClenagham removed Ajinkya Rahane for 36 to have India 127-3 they needed a further 170 off 18.2 overs.
SCORES IN BRIEF
NEW ZEALAND: 271 for 7 in 42 overs (Guptill 44, Ryder 20, Williamson 77, Taylor 57, Anderson 44, Ronchi 18 not out; Shami 3-55)
INDIA: 277 for 9 in 41.3 overs (R Sharma 20, Kohli 78, Rahane 36, Dhoni 56, Raina 35; Southee 4-72, Anderson 3-67)
Result: New Zealand won by 15 runs (D/L method) and lead the 5-match series 2-0.
Player-of-the-match: Kane Williamson.
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