India vs New Zealand: World No. 1 Virat Kohli ends series with forgettable numbers

Virat Kohli once again failed in the ongoing New Zealand tour as he ended the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series with only 75 runs.

Kohli's tally of runs is his lowest as India's captain, poorer than the 89 and 148 runs he had recorded against West Indies and New Zealand in 2019 and 2018 respectively. The No. 3 batsman also ended the series averaging 25 – his lowest since the 16.33 he had averaged in 2015 in a series against Bangladesh.

Kohli kick-started the ODI series against the BlackCaps by scoring a half-century in the opening ODI but he followed that with scores of 15 and 9 in the subsequent matches and his poor form could be one of the primary reasons for India's series defeat, especially after the tourists whitewashed Kane Williamson's side 5-0 in the shortest format.

It has been a while since the World No. 1 ODI player has reached the triple-digit score in the 50-over format. The last century Kohli scored was way back in August 2019 in the third ODI against the Windies in Port of Spain. His previous nine innings scores read as follows - 4, 0, 85, 16, 78, 89, 51, 15 and 9.

If the Indian team ended up losing the third ODI, which is underway in Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval, it would be their first whitewash in a bilateral ODI series of three or more games since 1989. The last time Tea India suffered a clean sweep was 31 years ago in the West Indies when they lost the ODI series 5-0.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and skipper Kane Williamson put the Indians to bat. In-form KL Rahul recorded his fourth ODI hundred as he led India from the front. His knock of 112 from 113 balls helped the tourists post 296 for 7 in 50 overs. Shreyas Iyer provided the required support as the No. 4 batsman contributed crucial 62 runs. Apart from them, only two more batters reached double figures – Prithvi Shaw (40 from 42 balls) and Manish Pandey (42 from 48 balls).

Fast bowler Hamish Bennett led BlackCaps' bowling attack as he picked up four wickets. Two wickets went to Kyle Jamieson and James Neesham respectively, while there was a runout (Shaw).