New Zealand thrash India by six wickets

Mumbai, India : New Zealand batsmen showed clinical efficiency in a tricky chase to spoil Virat Kohli’s milestone match with a comfortable six-wicket victory over India in the opening one-day international yesterday.

For the ‘Black Caps’, young gun Tom Latham (103*) and senior pro Ross Taylor (95) batted with lot of purpose, chasing down a target of 281 in 49 overs with minimum fuss.

New Zealand lead the three-match series 1-0.

This was after Virat Kohli showed his class with a gutsy 31st hundred in his 200th ODI in energy-sapping conditions to take India to 280 for 8 in 50 overs. None of the other Indian batsmen even crossed 40-run mark.

During New Zealand’s chase, Taylor and Latham came together at 80 for 3 with India trying drive home the advantage but their 200-run stand for the fourth wicket proved to be a clincher in the end.

The Indian bowling attack didn’t have a plan B despite the wicket being not so conducive for batting.

The best part about the New Zealand run-chase was that they achieved the target without taking undue risks.

They did not try to attack spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav (1/64 in 10 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (0/51 in 10 overs) taking all the singles and doubles on offer with occasional boundary for the taking.

They either used their stretch to play the sweep shot and on occasions waited for the turn to play the late cuts as the 20 overs by the spin twins yielded 125 runs but more importantly, they only lost one wicket.

Taylor, who has been a regular feature in the IPL over the years faced 100 balls hitting eight boundaries while Latham -- the only successful Kiwi batsman during their last tour, hit eight fours and two sixes in 102 deliveries scoring his fourth ODI hundred.

Earlier, skipper Kohli made it a memorable 200th ODI with a record breaking century in demanding conditions to guide India to respectable 280 for 8.