On Wednesday, November 4, in the first match of the five-match ODI series, New Zealand set India a target of 186 runs after the Indian captain won the toss and invited them to bat first.
The Indian bowlers delivered an excellent performance early in the match; New Zealand’s openers had added only 22 runs when Will Young (9) fell to Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep struck again shortly after, dismissing Henry Nicholls for 9. The Kiwi innings never found any stability, as they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. By 21.1 overs, they were 97/5 (with Tim Seifert scoring 38, Daryl Mitchell 28, Tom Latham 3, and Glenn Phillips 30).
India’s fielding was outstanding; the experienced Rohit Sharma executed a brilliant run-out of Daryl Mitchell, while Virat Kohli took a spectacular one-handed catch in the slips to dismiss Nathan Smith (1). At one stage, it appeared that New Zealand might not even cross the 150-run mark, but some aggressive batting from Blair Tickner towards the end helped them reach 185 (Tickner scored 34 runs off 23 balls).
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Jacob Duffy and Blair Tickner added 39 runs for the final wicket off just 31 balls. Arshdeep was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 4 wickets. Additionally, Gurnoor Brar claimed 3 wickets, and Anshul Kamboj took 2.
It will now be interesting to see how India approaches their chase. While such targets can occasionally prove tricky, the Indian side possesses a strong and deep batting line-up. Teams:
New Zealand’s playing XI:
Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (captain), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner
India’s playing XI:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh
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