Virat Kohli struck a commanding 74 off 51 balls as India defeated New Zealand by five wickets in a rain-affected opening ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Earlier, India’s relatively inexperienced pace attack, led by Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj, delivered an impressive performance to bowl out New Zealand for 185 in 40.2 overs.
Chasing a revised target of 143 under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, India reached 143 for five in 22.4 overs to secure the victory.
India suffered an early setback when Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a six-ball duck by Kyle Jamieson in the opening over. However, Kohli and captain Shubman Gill steadied the innings with a century partnership that put the visitors in control.
The chase was interrupted twice by rain, with the match eventually reduced to 32 overs and India’s target revised to 143.
Following the second resumption, Kohli brought up his half-century off 35 deliveries with a pull through mid-wicket in the 16th over.
The former India captain dominated New Zealand’s short-pitched bowling, hitting 13 fours and a six during his 51-ball innings.
Kohli also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the leading run-scorer in ODI run chases, taking his tally to 8,741 runs, ahead of Tendulkar’s 8,720.
Gill contributed 37 off 56 balls as the pair registered their sixth century partnership in 27 ODI innings together.
New Zealand broke the stand in the 19th over when Nathan Smith dismissed Gill, caught behind for 37.
Kohli continued to score freely before Jacob Duffy dismissed him for 74, with Tim Seifert taking the catch at deep backward square leg.
Duffy struck again in the same over to remove Axar Patel for a duck, while Shreyas Iyer fell for 15, giving New Zealand a brief opportunity to stage a comeback.
However, KL Rahul and Naman Dhir guided India to victory without further setbacks. Dhir sealed the win with a boundary off Nathan Smith through mid-wicket.
Earlier, Arshdeep led India’s bowling attack with figures of 4 for 70, while Gurnoor claimed three wickets for 44 runs and Kamboj returned figures of 2 for 22.
New Zealand struggled to build substantial partnerships against the Indian pacers, with Tim Seifert top-scoring with 38 and Blair Tickner contributing 34.
The hosts were eventually bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs, leaving India with a manageable chase that was further shortened following rain interruptions.
Brief scores: New Zealand 185 all out in 40.2 overs (Tim Seifert 38, Blair Tickner 34; Arshdeep Singh 4/70, Gurnoor Brar 3/44, Anshul Kamboj 2/22) lost to India 143/5 in 22.4 overs (Virat Kohli 74, Shubman Gill 37; Jacob Duffy 3/49, Nathan Smith 1/21) by five wickets via the DLS method.
Published: Wednesday, 4 November 2026 | 7:29 PM IST