Virat's century effort at Wankhede Stadium goes in vain as Team India are done in by...
Virat Kohli did everything in his reach to make his 200th ODI a memorable occasion. The Indian skipper scored a gritty 121 off 125 balls on a slow wicket that helped India post 280 for eight in 50 overs. However, it was New Zealand's 200-run partnership between Tom Latham (unbeaten 103) and Ross Taylor (95) for the fourth wicket that spoiled Kohli's party and the mood of the Wankhede Stadium crowd as the visitors scored 284 for four in 49 overs to clinch the first ODI of the three-match series by six wickets yesterday.
Tom Latham (103*) celebrates after beating India. Pic/AFP
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Early blows
While the Indian batsmen had to dig deep to tackle the New Zealand pacers after winning the toss, courtesy Trent Boult's exceptional figures of 10-1-35-4, the Kiwi batters hardly looked in trouble during their chase which was quite eventful at the beginning when Martin Guptill slammed consecutive boundaries in the first over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar to set the tone for the innings. Edges flew thick and fast, sometimes not carrying and on other occasions, going between wicketkeeper and first slip. The low light led to stoppage of play for a few minutes.
Ross Taylor pulls during his 95 against India yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
New Zealand's other opener, Colin Munro would have departed on 13 had Kedar Jadhav grabbed a simple catch at deep square leg in Jasprit Bumrah's third over. Bumrah troubled Munro (28) with slower deliveries and finally managed to get an edge which was safely taken by Dinesh Karthik in the cover point region. Guptill (32) in his attempt to put some pressure on Hardik Pandya, pulled one only to get a leading edge. Karthik did the rest with a spectacular running catch from deep square leg. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav was over the moon when the umpire adjudged Guptill leg before wicket. However, he was saved by the DRS. In his next over, Kuldeep had reason to celebrate when skipper Kane Williamson (6) ended up offering a simple catch to Jadhav at cover and the Maharashtra man made no mistake this time.
Super duo
Little did the Indian bowlers imagine that their next wicket would come when the Kiwis were just one run away from victory. Latham and Taylor stitched together a match-winning partnership as the Indian bowlers looked hapless. Southpaw Latham, who scored a half-century and a century in the two warm-up matches against Board President's XI earlier in the week, continued in same fashion, striking the ball fearlessly. Latham and Taylor started off cautiously and maintained a disciplined approach throughout their innings.
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