HAMILTON: Shreyas Iyer ‘s maiden 53 – over a hundred was eclipsed by veteran Ross Taylor’s assault on Indian bowlers as New Zealand held nerves to chase down their biggest ever target for a four-wicket triumph in the first ODI on Wednesday.
Iyer showed just why he is considered the next big thing in Indian cricket by scoring (off 138 balls . But Taylor, with his unbeaten 138 off (balls, helped New Zealand overhaul the – run target in . 1 overs for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
With his fours and four maximums, Taylor aggressively took on the much-vaunted Indian bowling attack. The visiting bowlers will, in fact, have quite a lot to ponder over after failing to defend the massive total.
The triumph is a shot in the arm for the embattled side, which was whitewashed 0-5 in the T series.
It was Taylor’s st ODI hundred, while stand-in skipper Tom Latham scored (off) balls as their – run partnership drove the Black Caps’ highest run-chase in one-day cricket.
Henry Nicholls also contributed (off) balls.
Earlier, Iyer’s effort was complimented quite well by the in-form KL Rahul , who smacked (not out off only balls. Skipper Virat Kohli also scored .
New Zealand got off to a great start with openers Martin Guptill (45 and Nicholls putting on .
Guptill was the first to go, and then debutant Tom Blundell (9) was stumped off Kuldeep Yadav (2 – 84) who was taken for runs throughout his spell.
It began with the arrival of Taylor at the crease as he put on 65 Runs for the third wicket with Nicholls.
Indian bowlers sent down 41 extras, made worse by poor fielding. The turning point came early when Yadav dropped Taylor (on 101 (not out) in the (rd over off Ravindra Jadeja (0 – 65.
India struggled to get the breakthrough and had to rely on Kohli’s superb fielding to run out Nicholls in the th over.
By that point, New Zealand had started accelerating and Taylor, along with Latham, put the Indian attack to the sword.
Latham had started with three off balls but then scored
off the next 32 balls. In all, he hit eight fours and two sixes.
Taylor reached his half-century off 50 balls. His 103 – run stand with Latham came off only balls.
Jasprit Bumrah (0 – 300 was deployed but after an impressive initial spell, he was taken for runs too. Latham was caught in the deep off Yadav but the damage had been done as New Zealand crossed 728 in the 45 st over.
This was after New Zealand won the toss and opted to field. Tom Blundell played his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.
They added (off) balls for their maiden opening stand before they fell in the space of five deliveries, leaving India at 64 – 2.
Shaw was the first to go, nicking Colin de Grandhomme (1 – 45, while Agarwal was caught at point off Tim Southee (2 – 88. It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 107 – run stand for the third wicket.
Kohli fell against the run of play as Ish Sodhi (1 – 32) got through his defense to clip the leg stump.
But the day belonged to Iyer who, despite a scratchy start , crossed (off) balls. Once past that mark, he batted with more fluency and confidence to notch up his first hundred in ODIs off
balls.
The Iyer-Rahul pair added 136 Runs for the fourth wicket.
Rahul’s carnage, inclusive of six sixes and three fours, meant that New Zealand conceded 728 runs in the last 23 overs.
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