A red-hot India brought the heat to the chilly HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala with a four-wicket triumph over New Zealand in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

Toss won, bowled first, and India restricted the Black Caps to 273. Mohammed Shami cracked the whip on the NZ batters with his record-breaking fifer (5/54). Daryl Mitchell (130) and Rachin Ravindra (75) led the batting for the visitors.

India, on the other hand, rode on the efforts of run-machine Virat Kohli (95), skipper Rohit Sharma (46), and Ravindra Jadeja (39*) to chase the target with 12 balls to spare.

Here are the consolidated highlights of the game.

IND pacers keep tight ropes on NZ batters

The opening 10 overs belonged to the Indian pace unit. Boom Boom Bumrah inaugurated the proceedings with a maiden in the first over.

Mohammed Siraj would follow suit soon, as he registered a wicket-maiden over in the second of his spell - and the fourth over of the INDvNZ game. Siraj tempted Devon Conway (0) to flick a shot towards Shreyas Iyer, who dived to right from forward square leg to take a superb catch.

After missing the initial games, Mohammed Shami announced his arrival to CWC23 with the scalp of Will Young (17). Shami’s length ball had a bit of extra bounce that took an inside cut of Young’s bat and fell back onto the stumps. Figures in his opening over? 1-0-7-1.

Kuldeep, Bumrah swing by to join the wickets’ party

Kuldeep Yadav’s patience in the game finally bore fruit in his eighth over. He bowled a plumb to dismiss Kiwi captain Tom Latham (5) for an LBW. Latham’s call for a review also went against his favour - with the pitch, impact and hitting wickets in straight reds.

Jasprit Bumrah ensured he didn’t end the night on a wicketless note. Boom Boom bowled a short ball and invited Mark Chapman (6) to go for a pull shot. In the end, Chapman’s shot landed straight into the capable hands of Virat Kohli.

Swing like Shami!

Mohammed Shami was impressive in his opening over, but he would take things up a notch.

After taking two wickets - one in the first powerplay and one in the middle over - Lalaji hit the accelerator and would grab his next three victims (Mitchell Santner - 47.4, Matt Henry - 47.5 and Daryl Mitchell - 49.5) inside the death overs to become the FIRST Indian to register two five-wicket hauls in ODI World Cups.

Furthermore, Shami would also go third (36) on the list of Indians with the most wickets in the CWC after Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath (44 wickets each).

Successful jump-start

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill utilised the scenic venue, the Indian support and the short boundaries to elevate India to a confident start in their 274-run chase.

Ro, for starters, achieved yet another record in his 40-ball 46. His SIX off Matt Henry in the second over meant the Hitman became the first Indian to register 50 ODI sixes in a calendar year.

On the other hand, Gill rose to the occasion when he became the fastest cricketer (38 innings) to 2000 ODI runs in the seventh over. However, the young opener (26 runs) would lose his wicket to Lockie Ferguson in the 14th over.

Kohli-Jadeja lift India to victory

Virat Kohli entered the fray and notched three fifty-plus partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (52 runs for the third wicket), KL Rahul (54 runs for the third wicket) and Ravindra Jadeja (78 runs for the fifth wicket).

While Kohli (95) - who brought India within five runs of victory - fell short of his second consecutive century in the ODI World Cup 2023, Jaddu (39*) hit the winning runs to give IND its first CWC win over New Zealand in 20 years.

Brief scores: India 274/6 (Virat Kohli 95, Rohit Sharma 46, Ravindra Jadeja 39*; Lockie Ferguson 2/63) BEAT New Zealand 273 (Daryl Mitchell 130, Rachin Ravindra 75; Mohammed Shami 5/54) by four wickets.