India Beat New Zealand by 5 Wickets in 1st ODI as Kohli's 74 Seals DLS Chase of 143

India beat New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, November 4. Rain shortened India's chase to 32 overs. The DLS target was 143. India got there in 22.4 overs and lead the five-match series 1-0. Pacer Anshul Kamboj won the Player of the Match award for his 2 for 22.

India won the toss and chose to bowl. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs. They never really got going. Tim Seifert top-scored with 38 off 43 balls. Glenn Phillips made 30 off 51. Daryl Mitchell was run out for 28. The late order added some respectability. Blair Tickner hit 34 off 23 balls from number 11, with four sixes.

Arshdeep Singh led the attack with 4 for 70 in his ten overs. Gurnoor Brar took 3 for 44. Kamboj was the pick of the bowlers. He bowled all ten overs and gave away just 22 runs. Two of those overs were maidens. He bowled captain Mitchell Santner and had Nathan Smith caught by Virat Kohli.

India's chase was hit by three rain breaks. One came before the start and two came during the innings. Rohit Sharma fell for a duck in the very first over. He was caught by Santner off Kyle Jamieson. That brought Virat Kohli and captain Shubman Gill together. They added 113 runs for the second wicket.

Gill made 37 off 56 balls. Kohli was far quicker. He scored 74 off 51 balls, with 13 fours and a six. He fell to Jacob Duffy in the 20th over, caught by Seifert. Axar Patel went for a duck soon after. Shreyas Iyer made 15 off 13 before Duffy got him too. Duffy finished with 3 for 49.

India still had fewer than 30 runs to get, so the result was not in doubt. Naman Dhir ended it with a pulled four off Nathan Smith. He finished on 5 not out. KL Rahul was unbeaten on 3.

Kohli also took two catches in the field. His innings took him past Sachin Tendulkar for the most runs in ODI run chases, 8,741 to 8,720.

The second ODI is on Saturday, November 7, at Sky Stadium in Wellington.