Tezzbuzz Desk– After the T20 series on New Zealand tour, the Indian team also showed its strength in the ODI format. Indian bowlers and batsmen performed brilliantly in the first match of the series played at Eden Park, Auckland on Wednesday, 4 November. The lethal bowling of Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj did not give New Zealand's batsmen a chance to survive. After this, Virat Kohli made India's victory easy by batting aggressively. The start of the match was delayed by about 10 minutes due to rain. After the toss and initial conditions, the Indian bowlers started putting pressure on New Zealand. Arshdeep Singh gave initial shock to the host team by taking two wickets during the powerplay. He took four wickets for 70 runs. On the other hand, Anshul Kamboj took two wickets for 22 runs, while Gurnoor Brar took three wickets for 44 runs.
New Zealand's batting faltered in front of the Indian bowlers. Due to excellent fielding by Rohit Sharma, one run out also occurred. Half of the New Zealand team had returned to the pavilion with a score of just 97 runs. After this, Anshul Kamboj increased the problems of the host team by taking two wickets in two consecutive overs. Virat Kohli also did excellent fielding and took a brilliant catch with one hand. On behalf of New Zealand, Glenn Phillips tried to score runs, but he did not get enough support from the other end. In the last phase of the innings, Blair Tickner batted aggressively and hit four sixes. Three of these sixes came in Arshdeep Singh's over. However, the Indian bowlers all out the entire New Zealand team for 185 runs.
The Indian team, which set out to chase the target, did not have a good start. Rohit Sharma was out in the very first over without opening the account. After the fall of early wickets, New Zealand had hopes of a comeback, but Virat Kohli and captain Shubman Gill took charge of the innings. Both the batsmen created a good balance between restraint and aggression and put the Indian team in a strong position. Shubhman Gill scored 37 runs, while Virat Kohli played a brilliant inning of 74 runs. Kohli completed his half-century in just 35 balls. This was the 80th half-century of his ODI career. There was a partnership of 113 runs between the two, which laid the foundation of India's victory.
The match had to be stopped twice due to rain, due to which the Indian team's target was revised to 143 runs in 32 overs. After Kohli and Gill's partnership broke, India lost a few more wickets, but by then the victory was almost certain. The Indian team achieved the target in the 23rd over itself and won the match by five wickets. With this victory, India took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series. The impressive performance of Indian fast bowlers and the brilliant batting of Virat Kohli led Team India to victory. Now the Indian team will be eyeing to repeat the same performance in the next match and strengthen its position in the series.