India beat New Zealand by five wickets in rain-hit first ODI: Kohli 74 off 51, Kamboj 2/22, DLS target 143

India won the toss and chose to field, and the bowlers justified it, among them Auqib Nabi, who had been added to the squad for the first three ODIs on 31 October. Arshdeep Singh took the new-ball wickets of Will Young and Henry Nicholls, both caught, and Gurnoor Brar removed Tim Seifert, who top-scored with 38 from 43 balls, and then Tom Latham, caught and bowled. New Zealand were 97 for 5 when Daryl Mitchell was run out for 28 by a throw from Rohit Sharma completed by KL Rahul, and 115 for 7 when Kamboj, who had bowled Mitchell Santner, had Nathan Smith caught at second slip by Kohli, who took it one-handed on the dive.

The middle overs decided the innings. New Zealand were 84 for 4 in the 17th over and 115 for 7 in the 29th, which means they scored 31 runs in about twelve overs while losing three wickets, in an innings where Kamboj, Axar Patel and Auqib Nabi conceded 67 runs from 21 overs between them. That squeeze, and not the early wickets, is what held the total below 200. Kamboj's ten overs were the quiet centre of the match. He bowled two maidens, conceded 22 runs at 2.2 an over and took two wickets, and it was his control that kept New Zealand from building a total on a damp outfield. Arshdeep finished with 4 for 70, the most wickets of the match. Blair Tickner came in at No. 11 and hit 34 off 23 balls with four sixes, and he and Jacob Duffy, who remained 15 not out, added 39 for the last wicket before Tickner was caught by Rahul off Brar. That stand took New Zealand from 146 for 9 to 185, a total that on a normal day would have been a modest one to chase. New Zealand were without Devon Conway, who was ruled out before the match.

The rain and the revised target

The toss was delayed by rain, and the chase began against a target of 186 from 50 overs. Rohit fell for a duck in the first over, caught at mid-off by Santner off Kyle Jamieson. Gill and Kohli then took India to 54 for 1 after 10.5 overs, when rain stopped play for about an hour. When play resumed at around 1:36 pm IST the game was reduced to 40 overs a side and India's target to 167. A second shower came after 12 overs, with India 64 for 1, and when play resumed at around 2:14 pm the target stood at 143 from 32 overs.

The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, used under International Cricket Council playing conditions, had reset the target twice, and the arithmetic was friendly to the chasing side. India needed 4.47 runs an over for the 32 overs, below the 4.59 an over New Zealand had made in their 40.2. The two top scorers batted in different gears. Gill made 37 from 56 balls at a strike rate of 66, while Kohli scored at 145, and the pairing worked because one of them could take the pressure while the other kept the required rate in check. Kohli reached his fifty in 35 balls, his 80th in ODIs by the count of the match reports, and finished with 13 fours and a six before he was caught at deep backward square leg off Duffy with the score on 124 for 3. Axar Patel, who came in at No. 4, was caught for a duck two balls later, and Shreyas Iyer was caught for 15 at 136 for 5. Duffy took all three of those wickets and finished with 3 for 49, but India lost only five wickets in getting home at 6.3 an over, against a required rate of 4.47, and with seven runs needed Rahul and Naman Dhir were never in trouble, and Dhir pulled the winning boundary off Smith.

What it means for the series

With four matches to play, the second ODI is on 7 November in Wellington, the third on 10 November in Hamilton, and the last two on 13 and 15 November at Mount Maunganui. Shubman Gill captains the first three matches and Shreyas Iyer the last two, and a two-Test series starts in Wellington on 19 November. The win came with two things the side will carry forward: a bowling attack that dismissed New Zealand in 40.2 overs, with Kamboj's control at one end and wickets from Arshdeep and Brar at the other, and a Kohli at No. 3 who was fluent from the start. The one concern is the start of the chase. Rohit Sharma's duck left the early overs to Gill and Kohli, and the middle order will not always have a reduced target to chase. The result also stands for what it is: a DLS win in a match that rain cut short, with the next ODI in Wellington on 7 November.