India beat NZ by 8 wickets in 1st ODI at Napier

Speed Post News Network

Patna : India beat New Zealand (NZ) by 8 wickets in the first ODI at McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand, on January 23, 2019, to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series. Opener Shikhar Dhawan remained unbeaten on 75 in 103 balls with 6 fours while captain Virat Kohli fell to fast bowler Lockie Fergusan for 45 in 59 balls with 3 fours. Fast bowler Mohammad Shami was named Player of the Match. It was India’s first win against New Zealand in New Zealand across formats since 2009. India had lost the ODI series 4-0 in 2014.

Opener Rohit Sharma fell to fast bowler Dough Bracewell for 11 in 24 balls with a four while Ambato Rayudu remained not out on 13 in 23 balls with 2 fours. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan added 41 runs in 56 balls for the first wicket. Dhawan and Kohli added 91 runs for the second wicket.

Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss New Zealand were all out for 157 in 38 overs with spinner Kuldeep Yadav taking 4/39 in 10 overs and fast bowler Shami taking 3/19 in 6 overs. Spinner Yuzvendra Chala took 2/43 in 10 overs while part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav took 1/17 in 3 overs.

For New Zealand, captain Kane Willionson was the top scorer with 64 in 81 balls with 7 fours while Ross Taylor chipped in with 24 in 4 balls with 3 fours.

The match was stopped for 30 minutes as sunlight was falling on the eyes of the Indian openers ( Sun break) when India were chasing the target. India were 41/0 after 9 overs when the play was stopped. When the match resumed, the target was reduced to 156 in 49 overs. India scored 156/2 in 34.5 overs.

Kohli described Dhawan’s innings as very important. He also lauded the performance of Shami and spinners Kuldeep and Chahal. Kohli said that when he lost the toss, he thought that India would have to chase a target of around 300. To get New Zealand out for 157 was brilliant, Kohli said.