1st ODI: Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya script India's easy win over New Zealand

Hardik Pandya R celebrates with Virat Kohli after dismissing New Zealands Martin Guptill during the first ODI match between India and New Zealand at The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium HPCA in Dharamsala on SundayDharamsalaVirat Kohli held centrestage with a delightful unbeaten 85 after a collective bowling effort led by debutant Hardik Pandya as India cruised to an easy sixwicket victory over New Zealand taking a 10 lead in the fivematch ODI series at Dharamsala on Sunday nightAfter bowling out New Zealand for a mere 190 in 435 oversIndia reached the target in a mere 331 overs in a match thatturned out to be thoroughly onesidedIf debutant allrounder Hardik Pandya 331 stole thelimelight in the bowling department it was another flawlesseffort from Chase Master Kohli whose 85run knock came off81 balls He struck nine fours before effortlessly lofting IshSodhi for his only six to finish the match in styleIt was rearguard action from New Zealand that saw themreach 190 after being down at 106 for 8If not for Tom Latham who remained unbeaten on 79 andTim Southee 55 New Zealand would have never imagined toreach near the 200run mark Southee played the role of an aggressor and together withLatham stitched quickfire 71 runs off just 58 balls for the ninth wicket to give New Zealand bowlers something to bowl atBut India hardly had any problems in overwhelming thetarget with vicecaptain Kohli again showing his supremecommand in the 50over formatIndia got off to a brisk start in their pursuit for191run target with Rohit Sharma 14 and Ajinkya Rahane 33adding 49 runs for the opening standRahane looked in ominous touch as he dealt in boundariesinitially hitting Doug Bracewell for two fours in the fourthover Rahanes was a short but sweet knock which had class written all over it Of his two sixes one was hit straight down the ground while the other was well lofted over coversRohit struck the first six for India topedging Southeeover fineleg Rahane followed suit and pulled Bracewell fortwo hits over fence in the next over iquest the first one over fineleg and next over deep square legBut Bracewell put an end to the partnership when heremoved Rohit trapping the batsman in front of the wicketwith a full length deliveryRohits departure brought Kohli at the middle and thevicecaptain opened his score with a scorching drive to thecover boundaryRahane who was going great guns feel victim to a looseshot and poked a Jimmy Neesham delivery to Luke Ronchi andpoked a Jimmy Neesham delivery to Luke Ronchi behind thewicketsKohli and Manish Pandey then added 40 runs for the 3rdwicket before the latter gave a simple catch to KaneWilliamson inside the circle off legspinner Ish SodhiKohli carried on from where he left in the Test seriesand hit Bracewell straight down the ground before coverunleashing a lethal drive to the cover boundary as Indiareached 118 for three in 21 oversAs indicated on the eve of the match skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni promoted himself to the No5 position and togetherwith Kohli shared 60 runs for the fourth wicket to take Indiacloser to the targetThe only blemish in Kohlis near flawless innings was adropped chance by Southee off his own bowling in the 28thover that too after smacking the pacer for boundaries ofconsecutive ballsDhoni made 21 off 24 balls with a boundary and a sixbefore a complete breakdown in communication with Kohli led tohis run outBut by then the job was almost done and Kohli in KedarJadhavs 10 not out company brought up the winning runs to pile misery on the Kiwis who are yet to taste a victory in the tourEarlier Pandya 331 who was handed over his ODI capby legendary Kapil Dev opened the attack along side comebackman Umesh Yadav 231 as the duo wreaked havoc in the initialovers to rattle the Black Caps inningsBesides Pandya and Yadav legspinner Amit Mishra tooshone with the ball with figures of 3 for 49Opting to bat after winning the toss India witnessed adream start as they reduced New Zealand to 43 for four in 104oversDebutant Pandya gave India the first breakthrough in thefinal ball of the second over when he removed outofformMartin Guptill 12Struggling for runs throughout the tour Guptill hitPandya for three boundaries in the same over before therightarm medium pacer took his revenge inducing an outsideedge as the batsman jabbed at a length delivery and RohitSharma did the honours at the second slipMuch was expected from New Zealand skipper KaneWilliamson 3 but he too perished soon slashing a widedelivery from Umesh straight to Mishra at third man boundaryin the 7th overIt was a gem of a delivery from Umesh which pitched ongood length outside off and moved slightly to get an outsideedge and Dhoni did the rest behind the stumpsReturning to action after change of ends Pandyadismissed Corey Anderson 4 but the credit for the wicketshould go to Umesh who pulled off a superb catch at midoffAn over later Pandya picked up his third wicket of theday in the form of Luke Ronchi who flicked one straight toUmesh at midon as New Zealand slumped to 49 for five at theend of the 13th overWhile his colleagues looked completely out of sortsopener Latham resembled a picture of patience and compactbatting The lefthander was hardly troubled by the Indianbowlers as he held one end together looking for support fromthe other sideDhoni then gave the ball to parttime offspinner Jadhav26 and he did not disappoint his skipper accounting fortwo Kiwi batsmen Jimmy Neesham 10 and Mitchell Santner in his opening overJadhav first dismissed Neesham with a simplest of returncatch off his bowling and then he sent packing Santner withhis next delivery as the batsman got faint tickle to Dhonibehind the stumpsWhile wickets kept on tumbling from the other end Lathamwent about his business with a cool head and in the processbrought up a quality half century off 77 balls with the helpof five hits to the fenceWith New Zealand struggling at 65 for seven Latham andBracewell 15 shared 41run partnership for the eighth wicketto keep New Zealand aliveLegspinner Mishra cut short the partnership whenBracewell lobbed a delivery on the middle and leg straight toRahane at short midwicketThen came in Southee who grabbed with both hands thereprieve he got in the 35th over when Umesh dropped a sitterat fineleg and took the attack to the opposition to take NewZealand to a respectable score in the company of LathamWhile Latham played the second fiddle in the partnershipSouthee used his long handle to great effect and did not sparea single Indian bowlerHe displayed an array of shots which included cut pulland lofted hits over the boundary to race to 55 of just 45deliveries before he was holed out by Manish Pandey off Mishraas the batsman went for another heaveMishra then polished of New Zealand innings in 435overs trapping Ish Sodhi plumb in front of the stumpsBrief ScoresNew Zealand 190 all out in 435 overs Tom Latham 79Tim Southee 55 H Pandya 331 Amit Mishra 349India 194 for 4 in 331 overs Virat Kohli 85 not outAjinkya Rahane 33 Ish Sodhi 128