'Lightning' Boult helps NZ thrash India by 8 wickets in 4th ODI

India's Shubman Gill (R) walks off after being dismissed during the fourth one-day international cricket match between New Zealand and India at Seddon Park in Hamilton on January 31, 2019. Pic/AFP

New Zealand pacer Trent Boult was the driving force as hosts New Zealand defeated India by a huge margin of eight wickets in the fourth ODI held at Hamilton today.

Trent Boult went on to bag 5 wickets for 21 runs and Colin de Grandhomme took 3 wickets. Boult scalped the wickets of India's three opening batsmen Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill for 7, 13 and 9 runs respectively. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik were both dismissed for ducks.

Kiwi batsmen quickly achieved the target in 14.4 overs. Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the best of the pick as he picked up the only two New Zealand wickets in the game - Martin Guptill (14) and captain Kane Williamson (11). Ross Taylor, who played brilliantly in the previous match, scored 37 runs.

Earlier, NZ proved that it was the right decision to put India in to bat after winning the toss in the fourth ODI between India and New Zealand in Hamilton.

Rohit Sharma, playing in his 200th ODI captained the Indian team in Virat Kohli's absence. India got off to a bad start after losing Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan early. The middle-order then, sans Virat Kohli, could not put up much of a fight as India got all out for 92.

The man of the match went to Trent Boult for his performance. India leads the ODI series 3-1.

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