Seamers, Kohli secure India's 1-0 lead in rain-hit match

The Eden Park pitch had been billed as "full of runs," but it "bounced more" and was "quicker" than even Mitchell Santner, the home captain, had anticipated. The hard length troubled almost every batter, except Virat Kohli. Against balls back of a length or shorter, he scored 43 off 25, with seven fours and a six, while the rest of the batters managed only 108 off 150 between them and lost seven wickets.

That knock much of the difference on a tricky surface in Auckland, with Kohli's 74 off 51 leading India to a five-wicket win by the DLS method in the first ODI and securing a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. India reached its revised target of 143 runs in 22.4 overs after two rain interruptions, defeating New Zealand in the opening match for the first time in 12 home ODI series. The previous instance also came against India, in January 2019, and that remains their last series defeat at home.

India's seamers kept the target small and found movement and life from the back of a length to bowl New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs before Kohli did what he does best. Arshdeep Singh returned 4 for 70, Gurnoor Brar took 3 for 44, and Anshul Kamboj, also the Player of the Match, conceded only 22 runs in his 10 overs while picking up two wickets. It could have been much worse for the hosts if it weren't for a 39-run stand between Blair Tickner and Jacob Duffy in the final over, which was the highest stand of the innings.

Shubman Gill chose to bowl under overcast skies after a passing shower delayed the toss by ten minutes. Arshdeep removed Will Young and Henry Nicholls off short balls inside nine overs before Brar tightened the screws after his introduction in the 13th over, removing Tim Seifert and Tom Latham. Daryl Mitchell, who had played seven innings against India and had scored four hundreds and two fifties, was run out by a sharp throw from Rohit Sharma after getting mixed up with Glenn Phillips.

After making smart use of the wobble balls, Kamboj struck twice in three innings. First, Santner inside-edged onto his pad, causing the ball to spin back and land on the stumps. New Zealand fell to 115/7 after Nathan Smith edged behind and was caught by a diving Kohli at second slip.

Tickner's four sixes, the joint most by a No.11 in an ODI innings, increased the total past 180. Phillips made 30 of 51 before Arshdeep removed him.

India's chase began with a setback when Rohit chipped Kyle Jamieson to mid-off and was out for a six-ball duck in the first over. Kohli and Gill had to work hard in the beginning because they were both squared up and beaten by seam movement. New Zealand fought back and only gave up 14 runs in five overs at one point. After that, Kohli scored his 19th run with a pick-up pull off Duffy and an inside-out drive over extra cover off Jamieson.

Rain stopped play at 55/1 in the 11th over. India needed 167 to win again after 40 overs, but after just seven balls, Gill even complained to Paul Reiffel, the umpire, that he couldn't see the ball properly. When they came back, the match had been cut to 32 overs and the target to 143.

Kohli shifted gears after that. The short ball that had undone so many others became his scoring opportunities as the pacers kept banging the ball into the pitch. Over midwicket, he swivel-pulled Jamieson for four and Tickner for six. A pull through deep midwicket brought up his 80th ODI fifty, off 35 balls, his second-fastest in away ODIs.

Gill, who had taken his time to find his rhythm, was content to play the supporting role. With their sixth 100-plus partnership in 27 ODI innings together, the pair added 113 for the second wicket, bringing India within 29 of their target.

New Zealand found a late burst but it came too deep into the run chase, with Gill top-edging a pull off Smith to kickstart the slide. Kohli charged at Duffy in the following over and smashed him over the head for four, but three balls later, the short ball finally caught up to him when he mishit one to deep square leg. Off the last ball of the same over, Phillips dived to take a one-handed catch above his head at backward point to remove Axar Patel for a duck.

At that point, India had lost three wickets for 10 runs in 11 balls, but they were still 45 runs ahead of the DLS par score at the end of the 20th over. Shreyas Iyer was troubled by the short ball, so he hooked Duffy for six before Naman Dhir ended the game with a pulled boundary. Duffy was then caught at short midwicket for 15.