Watch: Kristian Clarke dismisses Virat Kohli for 23 in IND vs NZ 2nd ODI in Rajkot

With no boundary since the fourth delivery of the 17th over of the first innings, India found themselves under tremendous pressure heading into the middle half during the second ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. By then, they had already lost the wickets of their captain, Shubman Gill, and in-form batter, Shreyas Iyer. 

The pressure even gets the class of Virat Kohli, who came into this encounter on the back of his great knock of 93 runs in Vadodara. Kristian Clarke kept it simple and angled it to the right-hander as Kohli tried to manufacture the shot, in trying to steer it through point, with the line being too close. He attempted the shot and ended up dragging it onto the stumps.

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It was a massive wicket for New Zealand, given Virat came into this fixture on the back of his three half-centuries and two centuries in the last five ODI innings against South Africa and Australia. The pitch hasn’t helped the batters much either, with variations on offer.

Kristian Clarke sends back Virat Kohli on 23 

India made a very slow start with six runs coming in the first four overs before Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started to free their arms in an aggressive mode. India’s captain celebrated a fine knock of 56 runs in 53 balls, thanks to his nine boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 105.66.

Watch the video here: 

But apart from Gill, everyone has struggled to get going with Kohli and Rohit returning for 23 and 24 runs respectively. Kristian Clarke has been excellent with his change of pace in the stump line bowling, making it harder for the batters to release the pressure with the big shots around the ground.

The Kiwis need to earn a victory in this contest to level the series, having already lost the opening ODI by four wickets. However, looking at the surface, one can easily admit that it won’t be easy to chase on the ground.

Brief Scores: India 142/4 (Shubman Gill 56, Kristian Clarke 3/37) vs New Zealand.