5-star Boult destroys India
New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult wreaked havoc with the new ball to bundle out India for 92 as the hosts cruised to a eight-wicket win in the fourth one-day international on Thursday.
Bowling his 10 overs at a stretch, Boult claimed 5-21 on swing-friendly conditions after captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to field at Hamilton's Seddon Park.
“I am a different bowler when it swings,” Boult said after demolishing India.
Having clinched the series with a hattrick of victories and rested captain Virat Kohli for the remainder of the tour, India looked to test their bench strength in the build-up to this year's World Cup in England and Wales.
Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma warned against complacency after a resurgent New Zealand inflicted one of his side's heaviest ever one-day defeats.
"One of our worst performances with the bat in a long, long time," Sharma said after India's biggest ODI defeat in terms of balls left.
He warned such an attitude could cost the second-ranked ODI team dearly at the World Cup starting in England in May.
"Just because we've won the series doesn't mean we can relax," he said. "We've got this big prize ahead of us and we've got to keep ticking the boxes. The good teams do that.
"At times you need to grind it out and absorb the pressure but we failed to do that today and we've only got ourselves to blame."
SCORES IN BRIEF
INDIA: 92 all out in 30.5 overs (Pandya 16, Yadav 15, Chahal 18 not out 18; Boult 5-21, de Grandhomme 3-26)
NEW ZEALAND: 93 for 2 in 14.4 overs (Nicholls 30 not out, Taylor 37 not out; Kumar 2-25)
Result: New Zealand won by 8 wickets and India led the 5-match series 3-1
Player-of-the-match: Trent Boult.
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