Ranchi : A half-century from Martin Guptill helped New Zealand beat India by 19 runs in 4th ODI on Wednesday and level the five-match series at 2-2.

After opting to bat first, Guptill’s top-scoring 72 runs off 84 balls helped New Zealand reach 260-7 before the hosts were bowled out for 241 runs in 48.4 overs.

“It was really pleasing that I put in a decent effort to get the team through to a defendable total,” said Guptill, who was coming off a disappointing series of scores. “I didn’t think it would be the highest score of the match. But it was only the halfway point and we needed to do a job.”

He helped put 96 runs on the board with fellow opener Tom Latham (39) for the first wicket, and the momentum continued with captain Kane Williamson (41) and a useful 35 from Ross Taylor.

India made a sedate start to their reply, with Rohit Sharma (11) and Ajinkya Rahane (57) adding only 19 runs before Sharma was caught behind off Tim Southee (3-40).

Rahane then added 79 runs with Virat Kohli (45) as the chase gathered speed, with the 50-run mark coming up in the 10th over.

However, a turning point came in the 20th over, when Kohli was caught behind off a wide delivery from Ish Sodhi (1-52). Skipper MS Dhoni (11) then came to the crease and struggled to get going, putting on 30 runs off 45 balls for the third wicket with Rahane.