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Daryl Mitchell’s love affair with India continued in the third and final ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore as the right-handed batter scored yet another century on Sunday. Coming out to bat in the second over of the innings after losing the openers Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls, Mitchell first bided his time in the middle, and he let loose once the bowlers got tired and started spraying the ball. Carrying on from where he left off in the previous ODI in Rajkot, Mitchell mixed caution with aggression to notch up his 9th ODI century and fourth against India in just 11 innings.
After completing the milestone, Mitchell went hell for leather as he targeted the Indian bowlers. He was also involved in a 219-run stand with Glenn Phillips for the fourth wicket, and even the latter scored a century, bringing up his 2nd ODI ton.
Mitchell, 34, was looking set to score a double hundred, but he was stopped in his tracks by Mohammed Siraj as he dismissed him on 137. Once the batter was sent back to the pavilion, Virat Kohli’s reaction summed it up best. Mitchel,l who has turned into a real headache for India, was playfully pushed out of the field by the former India captain.
Both Mitchell and Kohli were seen smiling as a playful moment was captured on camera. Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull explained the moment during the mid-innings, noting how Mitchell has reinvented his game.
“We finally got you, we finally got you out. You got 137, but we finally got you. Get off,” said Doull as he reacted to Virat Kohli pushing away Mitchell after he was finally dismissed.
“Mitchell must have that feeling against India at the moment, and there was a nice moment with Virat as he walked off. Virat seemingly pushing him out of the park,” he added.
Mitchell’s gala time
The right-handed batter scored 352 runs in the three-match series against India with two centuries and one fifty. With this haul, he aggregated the second-most runs scored by any batter in a three-match series, only behind Babar Azam and Shubman Gill (360). Mitchell also has the highest ODI average against India for any batter who has scored 500 or more runs against the opposition.
Speaking of the third and final ODI, which happens to be the series decider, India captain Gill won the toss and opted to bowl. New Zealand posted 337/8 on the board, owing to 137 and 106-run knocks by Mitchell and Phillips. For India, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana returned with two wickets each.
India started the game well as Arshdeep and Rana removed the Kiwi openers in the first two overs, and New Zealand were reduced to 5/2. However, Mitchell and Phillips ensured that the visitors posted more than 300 runs on the board.
