New Zealand beat India in the first ODI by 6 wickets. Ross Taylor and Tom Latham’s partnership eclipsed Virat Kohli’s heroics in the first innings. They dominated Indian bowling attack, not letting the spinners dominate in the middle overs like they have this season. Latham scored his first ODI century in India playing a gem of an innings. Taylor got out in the final over but his score of 95 off 100 balls was not less than that off Latham’s century. He used all his experience to rescue his side and take them to a comfortable win towards the end. India bowlers did well to get the top order including skipper Kane Williamson early on. Mitchell Santner came in and finished the match with a boundary with 1 over to spare.
Virat Kohli played the role of an anchor all along the innings after Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan fell prey to Trent Boult. Kohli kept losing partners as Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya left him after getting off to a start. Kohli got out for 121 runs from 125 balls in the final over of the innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pandya helped Kohli to increase the scoring run rate in the death overs helping the hosts post a fighting total at the end. On the other hand, Boult starred from the other end as he picked up four wickets off his spell giving just 35 runs from 10 overs. Bhuvneshwar did well at the end. He played a cameo of 26 runs from 14 balls. He did not spare Tim Southee in the final over hitting a four and a six. He got out off the last ball but took India to a score of 280 in the first innings.
— Cricket Videos (@VKCrick) October 22, 2017
— Cricket Videos (@VKCrick) October 22, 2017
— Cricket Videos (@VKCrick) October 22, 2017
ODI No.200
Century No. 31 #Virat200 pic.twitter.com/C1ZmBEKyzD— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2017
Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(wk), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
India Playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
Captain @imVkohli wins the toss. Elects to bat first #INDvNZ #Virat200 pic.twitter.com/udy9SrPRrs
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2017
Pitch Report:
From the looks of it, the pitch looks like a typical Wankhede surface where batsman will take on bowlers with ease and put on a mammoth total. Though with due factor coming into play in the second innings the captain winning the toss might be inclined to bowl first and then chase down the total.
Take a look at the pitch for the 1st ODI against #NZ at the Wankhede. Win the toss and ? #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/2vvndaAgdz
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2017
Going into the first ODI against the Kiwis, India will once again bank on their strong batting form skipper Virat Kohli and the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. With the opening conundrum sorted and Kohli settled at No 3, it will be interesting to see who takes the No 4 spot in the line-up.
Recently, India have experimented with a number of youngsters including all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav for the slot, which serves as a critical link between the top and lower middle-order. The bowling department looks a settled unit with presence of limited overs specialists Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
On the other hand, New Zealand will hope the experienced Ross Taylor and skipper Kane Williamson to shoulder the responsibility in the batting department, which also includes the likes of Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Colin Munro. Pace bowling wise though, New Zealand seem settled with Trent Boult having already picked a five-for in the first practice game.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wicket-keeper), Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, George Worker.
