NZ vs IND: 1st ODI Review – Latham’s super knock carries NZ home
New Zealand won the first ODI match against India to take a crucial 1-0 lead in the three-match series at home on Friday (November 25). Shreyas Iyer scored 80 runs and Shikhar Dhawan contributed 72 runs to help India put in a challenging 306/7 total while batting first. But Tom Latham and Kane Williamson smashed big knocks to guide the hosts to an easy seven-wicket win with 17 balls remaining.
Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first at Eden Park in Auckland while the Indian team handed ODI debuts to young pacers, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik. Dhawan and Shubman Gill started slowly with just 42 runs from the first ten overs but avoided giving away wickets. They put in a 124-run partnership with Gill scoring 50 runs off 65 balls and Dhawan scoring 72 runs off 77 balls.
Tim Southee dismissed both Dhawan and Gill as the Indian middle-order struggled with impactful partnerships in the middle overs. In-form Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant struggled to make an impact with Lockie Ferguson dismissing both batters.
But Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson formed a 94-run partnership for the fifth wicket to keep India on track for a big total. Samson scored 36 runs and Iyer smashed the highest 80 runs off 76 balls but it was Washington Sundar who smashed an unbeaten 37 runs off just 16 balls to help India score 306/7.
While defending a big total, Shardul Thakur dismissed Finn Allen on just 22 runs in the eighth over to India a good start. Umran Malik picked his first wickets in ODI cricket by removing Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell to put India in a comfortable position to defend the target.
But Williamson and wicketkeeper batter Latham stood firm and batted confidently to avoid further wickets. Both batters played cautious cricket while avoiding unnecessary big shots in the middle overs. But they changed the approach in the last 15 overs to accelerate the innings.
New Zealand needed 91 runs off the last 11 overs but the momentum totally shifted in the 40th over. Latham smashed four fours and a six to Shardul Thakur to bring down the required run rate.
Latham smashed unbeaten 145 runs off just 104 balls while Williamson remained unbeaten on 94 runs to guide New Zealand to a dominating win. For India, Umran Malik took two wickets and Thakur grabbed one but Arshdeep and Chahal struggled to make an impact and proved costly.
Top performers from the match:
Tom Latham: Kiwi wicketkeeper batter played a remarkable knock while batting in the fifth position. He came to bat when New Zealand were struggling at 88/3 and smashed unbeaten 145 runs off 104 balls with the help of 19 fours and five sixes to win the player of the match award.
Lockie Ferguson: New Zealand speedster took three wickets at an impressive economy rate of 5.90. He grabbed the big wickets of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill to help New Zealand dominate the middle overs.
What’s next for both teams?
Both India and New Zealand travel to Hamilton for the second ODI match scheduled at Seddon Park on Sunday, November 27.
