BackIndia have started the five-match ODI series with a win against New Zealand on November 4 at Eden Park, Auckland. The hosts batted first and scored 185/10 in 40.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh took a four wicket haul alongside Gurnoor Brar with three and Anshul Kamboj bagged two to pack off the batters.
The Men in Blue's chase was interferred with multiple rain interruptions. So, in the end the revised target for India was 143 and they chased it in 22.4 overs. Virat Kohli scored a brilliant half-century with Naman Dhir and KL Rahul remained unbeaten in the crease to close the match. From New Zealand, Jacob Duffy took 3/49. The second ODI will happen on November 7 at Hnry Stadium, Wellington.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh started the game with precision dismissing Will Young and Henry Nicholls in quick successions. Those wickets brought India right into the game and then on it was a smooth ride. He later dismissed Glenn Phillips and Kyle Jamieson to finish the game with the figures of 4/70. Anshul Kamboj impressed with a brilliant spell of 2/22 including two maidens and Gurnoor Brar took 3/44.
With wickets tumbled frequently for New Zealand, Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips scored some decent amount of runs. But, it was Blair Tickner who impressed with some big shots around Eden Park. He scored 34 off 23 balls including one four and four maximums at a strike rate of 147.83.
India were given a meagre target which looked easy to reach. Then, former Indian captain Virat Kohli came into the crease after Rohit Sharma's dismissal. He scored 74 off 51 balls including 13 fours and one six at a strike rate of 145.10 to completely take the game away from the hosts.
[On India's bowling and fielding performance] I think we were very good with the bowling. And I think our fielding was also really good. That run out by Rohit bhai, I think changed the momentum of the game. I think it was really that partnership, we saw that even in India - those two batted really well in India as well. And overall I think a very good team performance for us. [On Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar's performances] Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, Anshul is the kind of a bowler, you know, I think he's tailor-made for these kind of conditions, you know, always nippy, trying to seam the ball. And good with the old ball. We felt, you know, when there's not much happening from the wicket, he can create that extra bounce and with his pace and the way both of them bowled tonight was really magnificent to watch. [On adapting to the conditions during the rain interruptions] Yeah, I mean it's, it's never easy, you know, when you are set and then it rains and the wicket got a little bit quick, it got a little bit more, more nippy after the rain, you know. So the target reduced. So we were just trying to, you know, play our normal cricket. And I think the way we batted, you know, it made things a lot more easy for us. [On areas to work on ahead of the Wellington game] Nothing really, you know, if you're able to replicate our performance, it's all about consistency for us, you know. If we are able to do the same thing over and over again, I think we'll be in a great space.
I think the pitch probably bounced more than expected and was quicker than usual. Bounce at Eden Park can be quite hard and after the rain it skidded on nicely. Credit to the fast bowlers for backing up.
The key for me was to bowl consistent line and length and not think about how the pitch was behaving. Wobble seam ball was working well for me. I also get good amount of bounce, so my focus is only on getting the length right.