India batsman Shreyas Iyer has insisted Wednesday's maiden ODI century against New Zealand in the series opener at Seddon Park in Hamilton is “the first of many”.
Iyer struck a superb ton, which wasn't enough to prevent a four-wicket defeat. The result allowed New Zealand an early lead in the three-match series. Bet365 have New Zealand and India priced at 2.50 and 1.53, respectively, to win the second ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
“I am very happy, but if it had ended on a winning note I would have been even happier. But it's the first of many, so I'll take it in my stride and see to it that in the next matches, I finish on the winning side,” said Iyer.
“It's just a loss and we have faced that before as well in our life. It's not that we are facing it for the first time. So everybody is in their normal zone and it's not something that hasn't happened before. We've got that confidence in our team and in ourselves that we are going to bounce back strong. We have done in the past, so we've just got to take the positives from this game and move forward.
“It's just a loss and we have faced that before as well in our life. We've got that confidence in our team and in ourselves that we are going to bounce back strong.”
The talented right-hander's 103 spanned 107 deliveries – and featured 11 fours and one six – on a challenging pitch. He shared a century partnership with captain Virat Kohli – and was eventually dismissed by veteran seamer Tim Southee.
Iyer on conditions and partnership with Kohli
“The pitch had become very good in the second innings. It was coming onto the bat and the dew factor also played an important role in this game. The ball was stopping and coming. There was a variable bounce on the wicket, so we just decided that we need to take this phase and build a partnership. I'm really glad we took that situation completely out and had a partnership of 100, me and Virat,” added Iyer.
“That set up momentum for the next batsman. I'm really happy the way I planned my innings. I was keeping patient and I had that self-belief that once I cross a certain mark, I'll be able to cover all the balls I played as dots.”
