Not every fight is meant to be won, but it is meant to prove that a soldier was there to fight. On 11th January, Sunday, a young New Zealand side proved what confidence can bring to the table, giving a very beautiful performance against India in the first match of the three-match ODI series. India came with a stronger side, but they had to face trouble as New Zealand players are not ready to let the match go away.
However, India won the match despite giving too many wickets to false shots. KL Rahul reminded the old days by hitting a winning six.
New Zealand set a target of 301
On the Sunday afternoon, when Shubman Gill flipped the coin, it finally landed on his side, and India opted to bowl first. By that time, no one would have thought that New Zealand would put 300 runs on the board, but surprisingly, they did, which raised questions about the Indian bowlers, especially for Ravindra Jadeja, as his stats have never gone upright in the white-ball game. In the last four matches, he has only picked up 1 wicket.
ALSO READ । IND vs NZ ODI: Virat Kohli’s reaction to 'flying Kiwi' is pure gold | Watch
Nicholls, who made his comeback into the side, formed a 117-run partnership with Devon Conway, scoring 62 runs. He got out on a slower delivery by Harshit Rana, who also jabbed Devon Conway. Daryl Mitchell showed brilliant reliability and proved why he is standing in the third place among the batters in the ICC ODI ranking. He scored 84 runs with the help of 5 fours and three sixes. Among all of the new Kiwi players, Kristian Clarke stood out and helped to finish the innings on a good note with 24 runs in 17 balls.
Other than Harshit Rana, no other Indian bowlers completed their 10 overs. He took two wickets, along with Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Kuldeep Yadav was the only spinner to take a wicket in that innings.
Does India find the answers?
In the second innings, India was not meant to do many of the things; rather, Indian management, along with captain Shubman Gill, tried to find some answers. For Gill, it was pressure as he did not have a great Vijay Hazare outing, and he also got dropped from the T20I World Cup squad after being announced as the vice captain of the team. He might have wanted to regain his lost glory both as captain and batter, and he get pass on that as his 56 runs in 71 balls surely gave him the boost and confidence.
Virat Kohli put the run chase on a show. His new attacking approach is itself a masterclass. Every shot he played felt like Pink Floyd was playing on stage, but the show did not become a blockbuster as a misjudged strike landed in the hands of the New Zealand captain, which put a red signal on his way to getting his 85th hundred.
Shreyas Iyer, who made his comeback in the deep blue colours after two months, made a brilliant 49 runs. In the end, back-to-back wickets faded India’s chances a bit, but Harshit Rana, along with KL Rahul, formed a partnership scoring 29 runs each and led all the way to victory with a six. Kyle Jamieson took four big wickets. Aditya Ashok and Kristian Clarke took one wicket each.
ALSO READ । Shubman Gill reflects on turbulent 2025, embraces present mindset after T20I setback
This series will focus more on personal milestones. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two flag bearers of ODI cricket, along with Shreyas Iyer, will look forward to staying in runs. The next ODI will be played on 14th January at Rajkot.
