NZ vs IND, ODI: New Zealand 309 for 3 (Latham 145*, Williamson 94*, Malik 2-66) beat India 306 for 7 (Iyer 80, Dhawan 72, Gill 50, Ferguson 3-59, Southee 3-73) by seven wickets

In the first one-day international (ODI) that took place in Auckland on Friday, Tom Latham continued his excellent record against India by scoring 145 runs without a loss out of 104 balls, while Kane Williamson, as was to be expected, showed exceptional calmness by scoring 94 runs without a loss out of 98 balls. 

New Zealand took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series thanks to their unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 221 runs off 165 balls to chase down India’s 306 for 7 with seven wickets and 17 balls remaining. New Zealand, number oneThe No. 1 team in the ICC’s rankings for ODIs has won their last 13 home matches without a loss. India scored a respectable total earlier thanks to half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, and Shubman Gill as well as a cameo from Washington Sundar. 

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI
India: 306/7
New Zealand: 309/3
Kane Williamson: 94 Runs Not Out
Tom Latham: 145 Runs Not Out
New Zealand beat India by 7 Wickets
New Zealand Lead the Series 1-0#INDvsNZ #NZvsIND #INDvNZ #NZvIND

— Sumit Rane (@sumit_rane07) November 25, 2022

Washington said at the break that he thought it was a par total, but in the end, it wasn’t

Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik were making their debuts in the format, so India’s bowling attack was inexperienced.The absence of a sixth bowler further hampered them, particularly as the chase got closer.

With seven wickets remaining, New Zealand needed 91 runs in the final 11 overs. India might have been in contention with a few quick wickets, but Latham decisively shifted the game in favor of New Zealand at that point.

Prior to that point, Shardul Thakur was 1 for 29 from seven overs.He went for 25 in the 40th over, and Latham hit four fours and one six. After almost every boundary, India changed the game, but Latham couldn’t be stopped. Additionally, Thakur assisted him by bowling short on numerous occasions and down the leg side. Latham was on 77 at the beginning of that over. He had scored his seventh ODI hundred in just 76 balls by the end.

The equation was reduced to 66 required balls from 60 by Latham’s assault. He had reverse-swept Yuzvendra Chahal behind the keeper with the back of the bat by the time New Zealand crossed the finish line. He was bowling, punching the fast bowlers through the covers and pulling them to wherever he liked.

Williamson’s signature dab to deep third yielded a four, which was also responsible for the winning runs.

After winning the toss in the morning, Williamson brought India into the game. Dhawan and Gill put India on the path to victory by scoring 124 runs in 23.1 overs, their fourth century partnership in nine innings.

The openers had started cautiously, playing 44 dots in the first ten overs with the new ball moving around. During this period, Gill likewise found some useful tasks to fulfill. He went after a full delivery from Matt Henry in the tenth over, but he ended up cutting it to deep third. After charging in and performing the dive, Lockie Ferguson only managed to get his fingers under the ball. But nothing stuck.

It was Dhawan who broke the shackles, hitting Ferguson for consecutive fours in the fifteenth over. He made his half-century off 63 balls three overs later when he hit two more fours off Adam Milne.

Mitchell Santner was hit by Gill for a pair of sixes as he got in on the action. He hit 63 balls to reach his half-century, but Ferguson hit straight to deep square-leg.Tim Southee took his 200th ODI wicket by slicing Dhawan to the backward point from the opposite end, becoming the fifth New Zealand bowler to do so.

Between overs 27 and 31, Iyer and Rishabh Pant managed only ten runs because of those two wickets, which slowed the scoring rate. When the batter failed to get the elevation on a ramp shot, Milne could have sent Iyer back, but Latham missed the opportunity when he jumped behind the stumps. At that point, Iyer had 11 out of 21 points; He won with 80 from 76.

In the 33rd over, Ferguson got rid of both Pant and Suryakumar Yadav, which forced Sanju Samson and Iyer to work together for a while.

Iyer, who was inconsistent at first, seemed to gain confidence as the innings went on. He and Samson seemed to like the extra pace, and they added 94 runs for the fifth wicket in 77 balls.Samson hit more on the ground, whereas Iyer preferred the aerial route.

Samson succumbed to a 38-ball 36 yet Iyer continued. Having raised his fifty off 56 balls, he went on a hard and fast assault. As India scored 96 in the final ten overs, Washington used everything from an on-the-up drive to a falling lap shot from the opposing end. This gave Washington the impression that India had the momentum going into the break.

Finn Allen and Devon Conway helped New Zealand get off to a good start in their chase, taking them to 33 for no loss after five overs. Two balls after Chahal dropped Allen at short midwicket, Thakur caught Allen behind, making the breakthrough.

Williamson started slowly once more. Before Chahal gave him a chance to break free by bowling a few short balls in his first over, the 15th of the innings, he was on 11 off 22 balls. They were promptly bowled by Williamson to the midwicket boundary.

Nevertheless, Malik took the wickets of Conway and Daryl Mitchell while bowling at a breakneck pace. In addition, he squared Williamson up and gave him an outside edge. However, his first slip was too wide, and it’s possible that he was there to prevent Williamson from playing his dab to deep third.

Additionally, Malik was the only bowler to challenge Latham. However, the Indian attack appeared toothless once the standoff between Williamson and Latham began to escalate.

Williamson primarily focused on rotating the strike, whereas Latham utilized the sweep shot to good effect against Chahal and Washington. With 54 balls, Williamson was the first to reach his half-century. Before turning it into a one-man show, Latham reached there in 51.

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New Zealand had to play four frontline seamers alongside Santner due to a problem with James Neesham. That had affected New Zealand’s batting depth in some way, but Williamson and Latham made sure that had no effect on them at all.