Harshit Rana’s lazy effort in the field led to a lifeline for one of New Zealand’s most dangerous batters, Glenn Phillips. In the 5th over of Nitish Kumar Reddy’s spell, Phillips looped one up into the sky, and Rana dropped it with a late start from his position.
India have been able to exert enough pressure on the Kiwi batters with some accurate bowling and tight fielding. As said by cricket experts, fielding always wins matches for any side, and such has been the case for the Indians today.
Though India picked up early wickets, Daryl Mitchell, the in-form beast for New Zealand, once again scored another half-century against India and took control of the Kiwi innings that at one stage looked to fall apart. It was then that chances were dropped by the Indian fielders.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli disgusted as Harshit Rana’s poor fielding saved Glenn Phillips
Nitish Kumar Reddy has been handed the ball relatively more this time around in Indore. He has been very economical from his end, and Glenn Phillips, who saw the pressure building on him, looked to take down the fifth bowling option for India.
However, Phillips, who never looked comfortable with the shot, was cramped for room and top-edged it towards the square leg region. When the ball went up, Harshit Rana, who was positioned between the fine leg and square leg region, had the chance to grab the ball.
He could have easily made his ground had he started just in time, as the ball was in the air for a long time. Gautam Gambhir turned his eyes shut and banged his head back out of frustration, while Virat Kohli, who also looked interested for a moment, was not happy with how it ended with Harshit Rana misjudging the catch.
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) January 18, 2026
Glenn Phillips shifts gears with a half-century in Indore
Glenn Phillips shifts gears for New Zealand once he gets going, with his first boundary coming off Mohammad Siraj’s bowling. Phillips, who took a long time to get his first boundary, soon started scoring runs fluently towards the back end.
Phillips’ half-century came for the first time in the series, and it came at a very crucial time when his team needed it the most. Phillips is nearing his century, but has also set the stage for the other batters to come in and deliver with their big shots.
Daryl Mitchell takes control with the second century of the series
Daryl Mitchell has been in some relentless form in the longer format of limited-overs cricket. Mitchell has been competing with the Indian greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the top spot in the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings.
Mitchell scored the second century of the series and his 9th overall in the 50-over format. He would now seal his spot at the top of the ICC Men’s Rankings, taking a massive lead over the two Indian veterans. However, both Rohit and Virat will also get an inning later today.
The two Kiwi batters contributed to a 200-run partnership for the 4th wicket, and Phillips and Mitchell have both adopted the aerial route, eyeing that massive total this ground is widely known for.
