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India 41 for 1 in chase of 186 at Eden Park as Kohli gets going
India lost an early wicket but moved to 41 for 1 after 7.4 overs in pursuit of 186 in the first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland, with Virat Kohli finding the boundary under lights.
Key points
- India were 41 for 1 after 7.4 overs, chasing 186.
- Virat Kohli is at the crease after the fall of the first wicket.
- India need 145 more runs with nine wickets in hand.
India’s chase in the first ODI at Eden Park is under way and, after an early setback, moving at a healthy clip. Chasing 186, India were 41 for 1 after 7.4 overs, having been 33 for 1 at the start of the seventh over.
The first wicket fell inside the opening six overs, bringing Virat Kohli to the crease at No. 3. He did not take long to settle, flicking the ball off his pads and sending it racing to the fence as India kept well ahead of a required rate of under four an over.
Gill’s call pays off so far
Shubman Gill had chosen to bowl at the toss with an eye on the weather. “(It is a) bit overcast, so any reductions, it’s good to have a target on the board,” the India captain said. He also saw the series as a rehearsal: “Conditions we get here are going to be a lot similar to the ones we are going to get in SA.”
His four-man pace attack of Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Anshul Kamboj and Auqib Nabi then bowled New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs, with Rohit Sharma’s diving run-out of Daryl Mitchell the moment of the innings.
What India need
From 41 for 1, India need 145 more runs with nine wickets in hand and more than 42 overs to get them. Their batting order runs deep, with Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and KL Rahul still to come.
New Zealand, without the rested Devon Conway, will need early wickets under the Eden Park lights to defend a total that looked short when their innings ended. Mitchell Santner’s side have four seamers of their own and a bouncy surface to work with, but the short straight boundaries that helped their tail now favour India’s batters too.