India opened their ODI series against New Zealand at Eden Park with a five wicket win, and not even the rain could spoil it. A sharp show with the ball and in the field. A vintage Virat Kohli innings made sure of it as India won with 56 balls to spare.

Arshdeep sets the tone at a damp Eden Park

A wet outfield delayed the toss by about 20 minutes, but Shubman Gill won it and chose to bowl, and India wasted no time. Arshdeep Singh struck in the fifth over to remove Will Young. Tim Seifert looked dangerous for a while, but Gurnoor Brar ended his stay in the 15th over.

Sharp hands and a pace attack turn the screws

Gurnoor then took a lovely return catch to dismiss Tom Latham, and India held back spin until Axar Patel arrived in the 22nd over, a bold call with four seamers in the XI, which paid off beautifully. A 39-year-old Rohit Sharma showed his sharp fielding with a brilliant diving effort to run out Daryl Mitchell. Meanwhile, Kohli was not to be left behind, who dived magnificently at the slip to snap up Smith. Arshdeep added Jamieson and Glenn Phillips to finish with four wickets. A lusty cameo from Blair Tickner lifted New Zealand to 185.

Kohli’s wrist magic lights up the chase

Rohit departed in the opening over to Jamieson, a shaky start. But Kohli walked out and settled everything down, with skipper Gill giving him all the support he needed from the other end. The rain came twice, and India’s target was eventually cut to 143 in 32 overs. Kohli was in no mood to wait. Displaying trademark wrist play, he found boundaries on both sides of the wicket on the way to a brilliant fifty and a century stand with Gill. He fell for 74, drawing level with Ricky Ponting’s mark of 1971 ODI runs against New Zealand. The record is surely only a matter of time.

New Zealand fight back, but Shreyas and Naman get India over the line

Smith broke the 113-run stand by removing Gill, and Jacob Duffy then struck twice, sending back Kohli and Axar Patel. Shreyas Iyer followed soon after scoring 15. Four wickets in under four overs gave the Black Caps a flicker of hope, but it was too little, too late, as our very own Naman Dhir got India over the line with a boundary.

The rain tried to crash the party, and the Kiwis tried to gatecrash it too, but nothing was going to come between the Men In Blue and victory today.

Brief Scores
New Zealand: 185 all out in 40.2 overs (Tim Seifert 38, Blair Tickner 34; Arshdeep Singh 4/70, Gurnoor Brar 3/44) lost to India: 143/5 in 22.4 overs, target 143 in 32 overs under DLS method (Virat Kohli 74, Shubman Gill 35; Jacob Duffy 3/49) by five wickets.