Shubman Gill-led Indian cricket team defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the first ODI of the five-match series in Auckland on Wednesday. A young pace unit headlined by the imposing Gurnoor Brar scarred the Blackcaps with disconcerting bounce before Virat Kohli decided to celebrate his 38th birthday a day in advance by striking a chiselled 74 off 51 balls, an innings laced with 13 fours and a six. The 6-foot-5-inch-tall Gurnoor repaid skipper Gill’s faith by intimidating the home batters with his speed and bounce in the company of Arshdeep Singh as the visitors dismissed New Zealand for a below-par 185 in 40.2 overs.
After the victory over New Zealand in the first ODI, Gill came up with a three-word post. Uploading multiple pictures from the contest, Gill wrote, “The work continues. The unusually short and straight dimensions of the ground did create issues, but Arshdeep hit the perfect length, bowling to the field with relentless accuracy.
With India’s first-choice troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna unavailable due to workload management and injury-related issues, it was the Punjab duo of Arshdeep (4/70 in 10 overs) and Gurnoor (3/44 in 9.2 overs) that took up the mantle of unsettling the hosts. India reached the revised target of 143 in 22.4 overs, with Kohli doing the bulk of the damage. Meanwhile, captain Gill scored 37 off 56 balls.
Despite multiple rain interruptions, Kohli’s intensity was unwavering as he played his customary cover drives, whips through mid-wicket and imperious pull shots, both short-arm and over the top. The best shot Kohli played was undoubtedly the one where he stood upright and punched Blair Tickner through the covers. Kohli decided to ‘tick off’ Tickner in his special style with a plethora of boundaries. The supple wrists were at work and the crowd went back home happy. (With PTI inputs)
Anshul Kamboj (2/22 in 10 overs) was also superbly steady during the middle overs, something that will make head coach Gautam Gambhir proud of his punt to go in with three literal greenhorns. He bowled an eye-popping 46 dot balls in his 10-over spell. In pursuit of the modest target, Kohli’s controlled aggression made all the difference for India after the early fall of Rohit Sharma (0). The Indian maestro, who will turn 38 on Thursday, hit his 80th ODI half-century in the company of Gill (37), who played second fiddle to perfection. They added 113 for the second wicket after Rohit was dismissed for a six-ball duck.
