Captain Virat Kohli found consolation in the performances of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, after India fell to a four-wicket defeat to New Zealand in Wednesday's first ODI at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
Iyer powered India to a final total of 347 for four with a superb ton. He was well supported by Rahul's 88 not out. Debutants Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw had contributed 32 and 20, respectively, at the top of the order.
“Both new openers gave us a good start and I hope they continue to do the same. Shreyas' century was outstanding and KL was brilliant with the bat too,” said Kohli.
New Zealand reached the 348-run target with 11 deliveries to spare, as captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham and former skipper Ross Taylor starred. Latham struck 69 before Taylor moved to 109 not out. The result allowed the home side and early lead in series. They will contest the second ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. Bet365 have New Zealand and India priced at 2.50 and 1.53, respectively, to win the second ODI.
What Kohli said
“That was an outstanding performance by New Zealand. We thought 347 was good enough, especially after the start we got with the ball. I think Tom's innings took the game away from us. Ross and Tom were unstoppable in the middle overs,” added Kohli.
“We were decent in the field. We need to improve, though. I have to say that the opposition played better than us and deserved to win.”
Latham captained the hosts in the absence of batsman Kane Williamson, who has been sidelined by injury for the first two of the three-match series.
“That was a great performance from the guys. It was nice to keep our composure at the end and get across the line. For us it was about building partnerships. The total was a little more than what we would have liked to chase. But we managed to get off to a good start and keep wickets in hand,” added Latham.
“It's nice to make winning contributions. The way Ross played was fantastic. We weren't quite where we wanted to be with the ball. So we have to improve and hopefully we will play the perfect game at Eden Park.”
