Auckland, November 4: Virat Kohli hit 74 off 51 balls and held a diving one-handed catch at slip as India beat New Zealand by five wickets on the DLS method in the rain-hit first ODI at Eden Park on Wednesday. The win gives India a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India’s pace bowlers dismissed New Zealand for 185 in 40.2 overs. Two rain breaks then cut India’s innings to 32 overs, with a revised target of 143, and the visitors got there at 143 for five with 56 balls to spare.
Kohli, who turns 38 today, brought up his 80th ODI fifty along the way and was the difference in a low-scoring contest.
Pace attack sets up the win
Captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl on one of the bounciest pitches in world cricket. India’s four seamers gave little away, and the New Zealand batters kept falling to the short ball.
Arshdeep Singh finished with four for 70 from his 10 overs and Gurnoor Brar took three for 44. Anshul Kamboj, named Player of the Match, returned two for 22.
Tim Seifert, opening in place of the concussed Devon Conway and playing his first ODI in more than 18 months, top-scored with 38 off 43 balls. Blair Tickner made 34 and Glenn Phillips 30. The 39-year-old Rohit Sharma ran out Daryl Mitchell with a diving effort in the field.
Kohli’s one-handed stunner
The moment of the innings came in the 29th over. Kamboj found the edge of Nathan Smith’s bat and Kohli, at second slip, dived low to his right to hold the ball in one hand just above the grass. Smith went for one, and it was Kamboj’s first wicket of the day. Kohli also caught Kyle Jamieson at slip off Arshdeep.
Kohli takes charge of the chase
Batting at No. 3, Kohli was tested with short balls, particularly by Tickner, and answered by pulling him for six. He reached his half-century off 35 balls with a pull through midwicket in the 16th over, with India on 102 for one and needing 41 more.
Gill made 37 off 56 balls in a second-wicket stand of more than 100. It was the pair’s sixth century partnership in 27 ODI innings together.
Gill’s dismissal started a brief slide of four wickets for 22 runs. Kohli was one of them, pulling Jacob Duffy to deep square leg, where Seifert dived to take the catch. His innings included 13 fours and a six. Duffy finished with three for 49, but India’s lower order completed the chase without further trouble.
Kohli level with Ponting
The knock took Kohli to 1,971 ODI runs against New Zealand, the same number as Australia’s Ricky Ponting.
The result is a good start for India after New Zealand beat them 2-1 in an ODI series in India in January, their first ODI series win in the country. Kohli scored 124 in the deciding match in Indore, but India lost by 41 runs.
The ODI series follows the T20Is, which India won 3-2 after the fifth match in Hamilton. Read more cricket news on Indian Sports News.
