Dharamshala was a host to a relatively easy win for India, as the hosts, powered by their bowlers, were on top of New Zealand. The decision from MS Dhoni to bowl first, reaped rich dividends as his new ball bowlers utilised the swing on offer. Hardik Pandya was in the thick of things as he got a three-wicket haul on debut. Pandya, along with Umesh Yadav dismantled New Zealand’s top order with their fine bowling displays.
The visitors, however, put on a fight as Tom Latham carried his bat, and was involved in an entertaining stand with Tim Southee. The latter himself made a rapid half century to get New Zealand to a total of respectability. The Indian batsmen had no issues in chasing down the total as Virat Kohli’s classy 85 sealed the deal for India.
In the post-match presentation, Indian skipper MS Dhoni admitted that his pacers were simply fantastic. “Fantastic effort from the fast bowlers,” said Dhoni. “We didn’t think the pitch will help them this much, they hit the good lengths, especially Hardik, they bowled well and got regular wickets. Coming to the batting, Virat guided us well after the openers got us off to a fast start.”
Lauding Pandya for his stellar performance, Dhoni said, “Hardik has an awkward action, we have bowlers who bowl quick, hitting regularly in the 130 and 140 mark. Hardik’s performance is important for us, if he continues to do well, then it will be good for us – going into the future. The early wickets helped us, Axar and Mishra were good, but they need to hit consistent lines. I was in no hurry with the bat, I wanted to spend some time, the target wasn’t big and I knew I could spend some time in the middle. The tosses will be important in all matches, especially considering the conditions, we need to be at our best.”
Speaking about the game, Kane Williamson said that the Indians exploited the conditions well. “They exploited the conditions well, there were some soft dismissals as well,” Williamson said. “We scrapped well towards the end, we needed to take some early wickets, but they are a good chasing side and they showed it today. We were below par today, we need to stick together, play our best cricket, then only we can beat a top team like India.”