Vadodara: Virat Kohli continued his red-hot form in 50-over cricket with a brilliant 93 to help India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
Chasing a challenging 301 in the opening ODI, India built up most of their innings before Kohli’s dismissal sparked a brief wobble. The hosts eventually crossed the finish line with an over to spare.
Kyle Jamieson and Zachary Folks kept New Zealand’s early run chase tight, but Rohit Sharma broke the run with a six, followed by another four and a six. However, Rohit’s innings ended when he mishit a shot to mid-off.
That brought Kohli to Greece, and India’s no. 3 raced to 18 off 15 balls before Shubman Gill smashed Aditya Ashok’s long-on over for a six.
Kohli and Gill’s partnership put India firmly in control. Even the introduction of Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips failed to slow them down as both batsmen eventually reached fifties.
During his innings, Kohli crossed 28,000 international runs, overtaking Kumar Sangakkara to become second in all-time runs across all formats.
After Gill’s exit for 56, India were steadied by Shreyas Iyer, who quickly found his rhythm. Iyer hit a six and 2 fours in the same over and Ashok continued to leak runs.
Victory looked inevitable in the 35th over as Kohli set himself up for another ODI century.
However, he fell just seven runs short of his 54th ODI century, allowing Jamieson to score twice, dismissing Ravindra Jadeja and Iyer in quick succession as India reeled at 242/5.
India’s woes were compounded by the absence of Washington Sundar, who was ruled out in the first innings with a suspected back injury.
Harshit Rana was sent in at a crucial stage and provided a much-needed boost with fours and a six before falling for 29.
Eventually Sundar returned, K.L. Content to opt for singles alongside Rahul, he anchored the innings and sealed India’s victory with a series of fours and a huge six in the last over.
Earlier, New Zealand posted 300/8, powered by half-centuries from three of their first four batsmen. A solid century opening stand between Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway set the stage.
Conway dominated the powerplay and tested the reverse sweep against Kuldeep Yadav.
Both reached their fifties in successive balls before Nicholls fell trying to hit Harshit Rana. Conway soon followed and stepped into his stumps.
Daryl Mitchell’s subsequent contributions of 84 helped New Zealand reach 300/8 despite losing wickets at regular intervals.