Wellington:4/11/26:In Men’s Cricket, India have registered a convincing five-wicket victory over hosts New Zealand in the rain-affected first One-Day International at Auckland, taking a 1-nil lead in the five-match series. Put in to bat first, New Zealand were bowled out by India for 185 runs in 40.2 overs. For the hosts, Tim Seifert top-scored with 38 runs, while Glenn Phillips contributed 30 and Daryl Mitchell made 28. For India, Arshdeep Singh led the bowling attack with four wickets. Gurnoor Brar claimed three wickets, while Anshul Kamboj picked up two.
Rain interruptions brought the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method into play, with a revised target of 143 runs in 32 overs set for India. The visitors made light work of the chase, reaching the target in just 22.4 overs and winning the match by five wickets. The chase was brilliantly anchored by Virat Kohli, who smashed a match-winning 74 off just 51 deliveries. Shubman Gill provided valuable support with 37 runs, while Shreyas Iyer contributed 15. Earlier, India had won the toss and opted to bowl.
Kohli also surpassed legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run-scorer in ODI chases. His brilliant innings took his total runs while batting to 8,741, moving him past Tendulkar’s 8,720 runs.
With this emphatic victory, the visitors will look to carry the winning momentum into the next encounter. The second ODI will be played on Saturday at Wellington.