Ross Taylor stood up in the absence of Kane Williamson and helped his side chase down an inspired performance of 348 runs in the first ODI against India at Hamilton. With 41 needed off the last 54 balls and with seven wickets in hand, the Black Caps were well in the driver’s seat, but seeing how the hosts had faltered in the run chases in the T20Is, the Indians always fancied a chance.
However, Taylor ensured that the mistakes of the T20Is were not repeated as he scored his 21st ODI hundred and helped New Zealand chase down their highest total in the format to help the team take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The hosts got off to a good start with Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls holding their nerves to keep the Indian seamers at bay. They were aggressive on Mohammad Shami, as the duo added 85 for the first wicket. The first wicket came after Shardul Thakur struck by sending Guptill back as the batter played a ramp to hole out in the deep.
Debutant Tom Blundell did not leave an impact, and his dismissal brought Taylor into the middle. He joined hands with Nicholls, and the two played the perfect waiting game before a brilliant run out that saw Virat Kohli break down the stumps saw the end of Nicholls. Stand-in skipper Tom Latham and Taylor, then, put on 138 runs in just 79 balls, as the left-right combination all but took the game away from India.
Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shardul Thakur were all expensive in the day, as they went for 64, 80 and 84 runs respectively. The bowling unit were off the mark as well, as they conceded 29 extras, including 24 wides.
Earlier in the day, Shreyas Iyer starred with the bat as he struck his maiden ODI hundred that helped the Men in Blue set New Zealand an imposing target. He shared a 100-plus stand with both Kohli and KL Rahul, as the Black Caps were unable to create a stir with the ball. The debutant opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal had negated the seam movement up front with ease, getting off to a fine start as they made 50 for the first wicket.
They were, however, out in quick succession, and with the score reading 54 for 2, the Indian middle-order needed to step up. That is exactly what panned out as, first a stand of 102, and then a partnership of 136 between Iyer and Rahul, helped India pile on the misery against a hapless Kiwi bowling attack.
Brief scores: India 347/4 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 51, Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*; Tim Southee 2-85) lost to New Zealand 348/6 in 48.1 overs (Henry Nicholls 78, Ross Taylor 109*, Tom Latham 69; Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) by four wickets.
