India Vs New Zealand, Virat Kohli, Trent Boult Wankhede,
VIrat Kohli. Photo Credit: BCCI

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has lifted his side after Trent Boult was at his best in his first spell which further saw the former smashing his 31st One-day international while playing his 200th ODI game at the iconic Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

It also saw him surpassing former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting regarding the most number of hundreds in the 50-over format.

While playing the significant role at the top, Kohli, who scored 121 off 125 balls, was again at his best after hosts loss first wicket early on, in the name of Shikhar Dhawan, when gloveman Tom Latham caught him on 12.

On the hot and humid day, Kohli’s special knock included nine boundaries and two sixes.

In the first of three-match ODI series, India set a target of 281 for Kane Williamson-led New Zealand, as it was overall the 21st ODI fixture at the Mumbai-based stadium. India posted 280 for eight, as late-order blitz from Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept the crowd on their feet owing to his 15-ball 26 cameo.

For the Black Caps, the pick of the bowlers was Trent Boult, who bagged four wickets after conceding 35 runs in 10 overs which included a maiden.

On the other side, Southee was quite expensive in his quota of ten overs, as he gave away 73 runs for three wickets.

South bagged wickets of Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who smashed two maximums and two boundaries respectively – to make most out of the final overs on a surface which posed difficulty for the batsmen early on.

India lost openers cheaply inside six overs, as Rohit Sharma lost his cool head after two consecutive maximums on the bowling of Tim Southee. The right-handed batsman was clean bowled by Boult after scoring 18-ball 20.

Kedar Jadhav was caught and bowled by Mitchell Santner on 12 off 25 balls which saw Dinesh Karthik posting 37 off 47 balls before perishing on the bowling of Southee when Colin Munro completed a catch.

The wicket-keeper batsman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored 25 off 42, as Martin Guptill caught him on the bowling of Boult. Hardik Pandya scored run-a-ball 16 which included a six and a solitary boundary before Williamson completed a sensational catch on the bowling of Boult.

Here’s what Twittersphere revealed:

 

Tahir Ibn Manzoor

Tahir Ibn Manzoor, who tweets @TahirIbnManzoor (https://twitter.com/TahirIbnManzoor) - works as an editor for Sportzwiki.com. He has a great affection for longform feature writing. He completed his masters...

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