NZ vs IND, 1st ODI Review: Kohli's 74 and India's Seamers Win a Rain-Hit Opener in Auckland

India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series with a five-wicket win over New Zealand at Eden Park on Wednesday, 4 November. Their four seamers bowled New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs. Rain then cut India's chase to 32 overs and the target to 143 under the DLS method. Virat Kohli made 74 off 51 balls, a day before his 38th birthday, and India got there with 56 balls to spare.

India's seamers set it up

Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl on a pitch with plenty of bounce and some seam movement. India picked Anshul Kamboj ahead of Mohammed Siraj, and he was the most economical bowler in the match: 10 overs, two maidens, 2 for 22. He bowled Mitchell Santner, who played the ball onto his stumps, and found the edge of Nathan Smith's bat, which Kohli caught with a one-handed dive in the slips.

Arshdeep Singh took 4 for 70. He removed Will Young and Henry Nicholls early, then came back to dismiss Kyle Jamieson and Glenn Phillips. Gurnoor Brar took 3 for 44, including Tim Seifert, New Zealand's top scorer with 38 off 43 balls, and a sharp return catch to send back Tom Latham. Daryl Mitchell (28) was run out after a mix-up with Phillips, thanks to Rohit Sharma's diving throw from square leg.

New Zealand were 146 for 9 when Blair Tickner joined Jacob Duffy. Tickner hit four sixes in 34 off 23 balls, and the pair added 39 for the last wicket before Gurnoor had Tickner caught by KL Rahul. Getting New Zealand out with nearly 10 overs unused mattered later, when the weather closed in.

Rain and the revised target

India began chasing 186 in 50 overs, and Rohit fell for a duck in the first over, caught by Santner off Jamieson. Gill and Kohli steadied the innings before drizzle took the players off 65 balls into the chase. Rain returned later, and the chase was cut to 32 overs with a revised DLS target of 143.

Kohli takes charge

On a surface where most batters struggled to control the short ball, Kohli went after it. He hit 13 fours and a six, and many of his runs came from pull shots, several of them off Tickner. Gill gave him steady support with 37 off 56 balls.

India lost four wickets for 22 runs near the end. Smith had Gill caught behind by Latham, and Duffy took 3 for 49, removing Kohli, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer (15 off 13). KL Rahul (3 not out) and Naman Dhir (5 not out) finished the job at 143 for 5 in 22.4 overs. Anshul Kamboj was named Player of the Match.

Match officials

Phil Gillespie made his ODI debut as an on-field umpire, standing alongside Paul Reiffel. Kumar Dharmasena was the TV umpire and Ranjan Madugalle the match referee.

Fantasy corner: who scored the most points

Virat Kohli, 162 points. The top scorer on Fantasy11. Teams that made him captain got 324 from him alone.
Arshdeep Singh, 142 points. Four wickets outweighed the 70 runs he gave away.
Jacob Duffy, 130 points. The best New Zealand pick: three wickets with the ball and 15 runs with the bat.
Gurnoor Brar, 120 points. Three wickets and a catch off his own bowling.
Anshul Kamboj, 101 points. Two wickets and two maidens in the most economical spell of the match.

The lesson for the rest of the series: on bouncy New Zealand pitches, wicket-taking seamers can score as much as the top batters. Three of the top four were fast bowlers.

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Up next

The 2nd ODI is in Wellington on Saturday, 7 November, starting at 3:00 pm local time (7:30 am in India). Contests on Fantasy11 are free to enter, with no deposits. Build your team before the deadline and follow every ball live in the match centre.