Powered by Tom Latham’s brilliant unbeaten 145 off 104 and nurtured by skipper Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 94 off 98, New Zealand secured a convincing seven wicket win over India in the first of three ODIs played at the Eden Park, Auckland on Friday.
Openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway were challenged against the new ball early during their 307-run chase, the former edging one behind off Shardul Thakur for run-a-ball 22 in the eighth over of the innings.
Debutant Umran Malik bowled with great pace and aggression to maintain the intensity, and was duly rewarded with the wickets of Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, with Washington Sundar limiting the scoring with his restrictive off-breaks from the other end.
Mitchell’s wicket left the hosts at 88/3 in the 20th over, leaving them needing another 219 in 30.1. Latham swept at monotonous ease against the spinners right from the start, and pounced on anything short from the quicks to keep the required rate in control. Williamson meanwhile, anchored the innings, the constant strike-rotation ensuring a smooth passage for the Blackcaps.
Latham outscored Williamson significantly during the unbeaten 221-run stand, bringing his hundred off just 76 balls with a single off Shardul Thakur on the final ball of the 40th over, soon after having tonked him for a six and four consecutive fours. The left-hander struck 19 fours and five sixes in a game-defining knock, while Williamson hit seven fours and a six, including the match-winning boundary off Arshdeep Singh with 2.5 overs remaining.
Earlier, India rode on half centuries from their top-three – skipper Shikhar Dhawan (72 off 77), Shubman Gill (50 off 65) and Shreyas Iyer (80 off 76) – to finish 306/7 after being put in to bat. The openers added 124 runs, before both fell at the same team score, and Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissals not long after had India at 160/4 in 32.5 overs.
Iyer added 94 runs for the fifth wicket with Sanju Samson (36 off 38), before Washington Sundar provided the late flourish with a breezy 37* off 16, including three fours and as many sixes. Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee bagged three wickets each for the hosts.
“It was just one of those days when everything came off well,”
Latham, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, said after the win.
“Built a partnership with Kane and had a bit of fun, just reacted to things and it paid off. It’s about being in strong positions and reacting to what they were bowling. Was able to find the gaps. The preparation has been ideal, it’s been nice and I was able to hit the ball right today.
Sundar was getting some turn, found a bit hard to play against him. It’s a small ground and we could capitalise at the end. Don’t know where that came from, just one of those days.”
New Zealand claimed their 13th consecutive win at home in ODIs. The second game of the series will be played at the Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday.
Brief scores
India 306/7 in 50 overs (Iyer 80, Dhawan 72; Ferguson 3/59) lost to New Zealand 309/3 in 47.1 overs (Latham 145*, Williamson 94*; Malik 2/66) by seven wickets
